A New Journey Brings a New Revelation! {Luke 8}

Today's Passage: Luke 8

I’m sure most of us are very familiar with the parable of the sower and the seed found at the beginning of chapter eight, but I never made a connection between that parable and the next passage until today! You see when the Book of Luke was originally written, it was written without chapters, verses and passages with headings, and sometimes it’s better to read it as it was originally written, for especial in this instance I now see that Jesus is still talking about what we should do with His word in verses 16-18,

 “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. 17 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. 18 Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”

I honestly never fully understood this passage until I tied the two together. Jesus is first encouraging us to demonstrate, or put into practice what we've heard and learned in His Word; only He changes the description from fruit to light. John Piper explained it this way,

He declares that the "fruit" of verse 15 is the "light" of verse 16. And this light is meant to help people see their way to "come into" the kingdom of God. He changes images from fruit (verse 15) to light (verse 16). But that is not surprising because we know from other New Testament teachings (Col 1:10;Luke 3:8-9) that bearing fruit means doing good deeds of faith for the glory of God. And we know that, in Matthew 5:16, Jesus called these good deeds "light" which helps people enter the kingdom: "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." 

I'd often wondered what Jesus meant when He proclaims, "For whoever has, to him more will be given." BUT, now that I understand He is still referring to what we do with His word, I now can see that when we hear the word of God, and receive it with gladness, more will be given to us.

I take that to mean that our desire to study God's word will increase. While our understanding of what we hear will as well. For the first time ever, I understand that Jesus is teaching us that spiritual growth follows our enthusiasm; positive or negative. 

When we carefully work to create godly habits by not only receiving the word and living it out, more will be built onto that. However, He also warns us that when we lose those godly habits, they will be extremely difficult to get back.

As I thought further on this the verses in Proverbs 2:3-5 came to my mind and we'd all be blessed to follow it:

Yes, if you cry out for insight,And lift up your voice for understanding;4 
If you seek skillful and godly wisdom as you would silverAnd search for her as you would hidden treasures;5 
Then you will understand the [reverent] fear of the Lord [that is, worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome]And discover the knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2:3-5)

In light of this new revelation I discovered here, I can't help to grow even more excited about our journey this year through the New Testament!!

May He bless your journey as well!

sue