Today’s Encouragement is, “He [Jesus] replied, ‘You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not.’” Matthew 13:11 NLT
Understand The Secrets –
This means:
We are included – We who believe are just like the disciples! We are the good soil where the seed of God’s Truth has taken root and produced abundance (v8)!
We are permitted – And just like His twelve disciples, we can understand (at least to some extent) the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven!
We may quickly (and honestly) respond, “What? Really? But I don’t even understand much of what I read in the Bible! I have no clue about the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven!”
Possibly so, but read on. Even after revealing that we are permitted to understand, Jesus went on to explain the parable to them. Only then did the disciples understand the secret of the Sower, the seed, and the soil, a parable of the Kingdom of Heaven.
The disciples (they are our example) always listened, asked, and pondered the meaning of His teachings… and they all, with one obvious exception, came to a growing understanding of the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Perhaps that is the key concept—a growing understanding. We are among the privileged few who, by faith in Jesus, are permitted to understand these secrets, but this understanding isn’t downloaded immediately; it is developed over time and by devotion, just as any relationship can only grow with intention and time.
Father, we thank You that, like the first disciples, we can listen, ask, ponder, and grow to understand the truths and secrets of Your Kingdom. Help us to continue to seek, Father. We pray in Jesus’ Name.
Kingdom Things
Matthew West
Today’s Encouragement 