Reconciled

My Grandad was a teacher, not a real one, but someone who loved to help you do things and show you how to make things. He had lots of plans.

His name was Charles, and he loved to go out and tell a lot of people about what it was like to be a Christian. He was born a long time ago and was the youngest of five children. 

His elder sister Louise married a young man whose surname was Mark, and he owned a lot of land with large acreages and all lake frontages. The place ended up being named after him, and today it's called Mark's Point. There were kilometers of it and absolutely no houses around at that time, so different from today.

In his parents' wisdom, which, in today's terms, would be thoroughly outrageous, they sent young Charles at a very early age to live on an island in the middle of Mark's Point lake, which was then owned by his brother-in-law and his big sister. He was all on his own. His parents' view was to help him grow up a bit.

And grow up he did, he gave his life to Jesus on the island, and when he eventually came home, found himself travelling around not only for work but also bringing the gospel of Jesus to heaps of people who at that time were really struggling with the depression and living in absolute poverty.

He married Sarah Lambert (that's Sarah and Charles in the photo), and they also had five children, of which my dad, also Charles, was the youngest.

Me also being the youngest of five, loved going to Granddad's place. He had an amazing backyard, all little paths and heaps of bushes, it was like a maze, and I used to scoot around the whole place like a treasure hunt. All on my own, all my siblings had long gone, with Granddad working in the backyard, always making something. I loved it.

Granddad related so well to the story that Jesus told his disciples about what the kingdom of God was like. He encouraged so many people to come to Christ and give their lives to him.

He always told us that God is alive and really wants you to give your lives to Him. When I was just sixteen years old, my Grandma had died a long while before, and Granddad was also dying in the hospital. He told me to make sure I gave my life to Jesus and to make sure others knew about our Lord.

He was an amazing Granddad and he cared so much for us.

Jesus was with his disciples, no one else, and he told them this parable or story as we would know it today. You can read it in Matthew 13:52

"Therefore, every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of the house who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old" (English Standard Version).

Hmm, interesting to look at this story that Jesus told. Firstly, a scribe is a teacher, and in the story he told, if you are going to be a teacher, that is someone who fully understands the Kingdom of Heaven, then you also have to be a pupil or student.

Jesus told this parable to his followers, and he wanted them to know that he looked to the past with respect and encouraged his listeners to realise that God is alive and constantly at work in our lives, that is, of course, if we are ready to accept him into our lives and be our Number one. 

In the story that he told, he emphasized that the old truths in the Bible are real, and what Jesus was doing here was shining a new light on them. He also wants us to know that he came to earth as the saviour. He actually, through this parable, was taking the old truths and putting them into context like we have today.

God wants all of us to be reconciled to Himself and also to each other. He wants us to come to Him regardless of whether we are persecuted and feel like falling away. God wants us to endure all the ups and downs that we are constantly coping with, often day to day.

If we are to be faithful to God and become true citizens of heaven, then we have to believe the Bible or scripture entirely. Jesus taught us about God and his kingdom, that we need to be true followers of Jesus and what He taught us. It is so good to know what is in the Bible and how we should react to other people. Regardless of what or who these people are.

We need to be not just listeners but people who obey what Jesus said and still does. We need to take the Word of God seriously and truthfully, we need to trust Him implicitly, and follow him. That's what Jesus meant in the parable/story that He told his disciples.

Makes you think, are we really listening to Jesus and following him? 

Give your life to Him, and He will lead you into eternity with Him.

God bless you, and I hope to see you next time.