Hide It Under a Bushel? NO!

  Scripture For The Day 

December 19, 2023

Luke 19 part 1

"Hide It Under a Bushel? NO!" 

And Jesus passed through Jericho. Jericho had a lot of history, even at that time. It was a major trading center and there was a wealthy tax collector named Zaccheus who lived and worked there. He heard about Jesus and decided to see for himself. But he was a short man and there were a lot of people traveling with Jesus and a huge crowd lining the street waiting to see Jesus pass by. Less than 15 miles away, Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead. He was a rockstar. So, Zaccheus ran up ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus. As soon as Jesus got to the tree, He looked up and said “Zaccheus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.” I bet y’all are singing the song right now…I was. 😊

The crowd began to murmur. How could Jesus eat with a sinner like this dishonest tax collector? Zaccheus was so overwhelmed with the love of Jesus that he said he would make restitution to all he had cheated and even give them more than was required. And Zaccheus received salvation that day because of his faith. Jesus came to save the lost. Jesus began to speak in a parable because time was running out and the disciples still hadn’t grasped what was going to happen. “A certain man was preparing to go to a country far away to be king. Then he planned to return home and rule his people. So he called ten of his servants together. He gave a bag of money to each servant. He said, ‘Do business with this money until I come back.’ But the people in the kingdom hated the man. They sent a group to follow him. They didn’t want him to be king. But the man was made king. When he came home, he said, ‘Call those servants who have my money I want to know how much more they earned with it.’ Jesus shares in this story what three of those servants did with the money. The first servant earned ten bags of money. Second, earned five bags of money. But the third servant had wrapped up the money and hid it, in case anyone tried to steal it. He thought he did a good thing, protecting the king’s money, because he was afraid of the king. The king was disappointed in this servant. From the things the servant said about the king, he obviously didn't know his master very well and there were different ways he could have handled the money for the king. So, the king had the money taken from this servant and given to the one who had earned the most. The king said, “People who use what they have will get more. But those who do not use what they have will have everything taken away from them.”

The Lord Blesses us with so much. He doesn’t want us to sit around griping and complaining about the things we don’t have or be afraid to use what we do have. But He expects us to use what He has given us to further His Kingdom. It all belongs to Him anyway. 

Hide it under a bushel? NO!!!