Listen up, little ones
Listen for the words hear and see.
Reading
Matt. 13:11-17—Hear and See
Optional Reading
Isaiah 6
Keys for kids
- Hear, see, perceive, and understand are all words which mean to believe. Heal means be forgiven or be saved.
- Jesus spoke to them in parables to hide the truth from them. The Bible can be like a parable to us, until God gives us the ability to understand it!
- According to verse 17, the prophets and righteous men in the Old Testament would have longed to see what we see!
Questions
- Who is the you in verse 11? Are you included in the you?
- Given the principle in verse 12, how can you be a good/better steward of what you have?
- How does verse 16 reverse the hardening of Isaiah 6?
Notes
(See Saturday for authors.)
Jesus invites people to hear and to see and to believe in Him, thus undoing the hardening judgment of Isaiah 6 for all who will come to Him.
True, according to this parable there is not much that we can do. We certainly can't change the soil of our own hearts. A stone is a stone, and human wisdom tells us that seeds will never grow on stony ground. However, we do have a God who alone is able to change the soil of our hearts! In fact, He can even take away our stony hearts and give us hearts of flesh (Ezek. 36:36). He can raise up children of Abraham from stones! (Matt. 3:9). We have a God who is willing to do battle with the briars and thorns (Isa. 27:4).
We need to pray, therefore, even for our own hearts, and our prayer is an indication that God is working in our hearts.
Swedish Method questions
Praise
Psalm 44a, 51a
Prayer
- Thank God for His salvation!
- Pray for change in you from last Lord’s Day’s sermons.
- Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.