Thoughts for the Day

Verses: 21  Jesus said to them, ‘Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. 23 Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’ 24 And he said to them, ‘Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. 25 For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.’

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

As we have seen, a parable on one level is a story, but on another level it's a story with a deeper spiritual meaning. However, sometimes sayings and parables are put together by the writers of the Gospels. They were probably used by Jesus again and again, so Mark puts four different things together in today's reading, whereas Matthew spreads them out across his Gospel.

I have included the numbers of the verses, to help separate the different sayings/parables. I have also used modern analogies to help look at them in a little more depth:

1. Verse 21: No-one would turn on a lamp at night and then cover the light with a large box! That is, once we become Christians and are infused with the light of Christ we shouldn't hide it, but spread the light (that is His love) to others, and also show it in the way we live our lives.
2. Verses 22-23: We should acknowledge our mistakes to ourselves and confess our faults to God asking for forgiveness, for the truth cannot be hidden, and it will come out in the end.
3. Verse 24: The more we put, say, into study, or a relationship, or into worship, then the more we will get back! Always the worker will be given more to do! This applies particularly to our Christian life. (If at this point you feel exhausted, panic not, the work may change so that it is, for instance, less physical as we get older!).
4. Verse 25: When we fail to use the gifts God gives us they will be taken away. (For instance, if we never use the things taught us at school, like maths, or science, or languages, then they disappear from our memory!). So the good news for us is that the more we learn about God and the more we have faith in Him, then the more faith will be given to us.

Lord Jesus Christ
You teach us again and again
to pass on the good news of Your Kingdom
but we find excuses to avoid doing so;
we pretend before others that we do not
know the Truth about You;
and sometimes we fail to put much effort into
our relationship with You;
We pray we may be open
to accepting the challenges You give us,
and that we may continue grow in faith.
Amen.