Personal Parables

“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” Matthew 7:28-29

When Bruce and I were young in our marriage it always amazed me as to the level of knowledge he possessed in almost every area. He was always the one I would go to for any knowledge I needed on any subject as he is very intelligent - one of his many wonderful attributes. It wasn’t until later in our marriage that he confessed that sometimes what he didn’t know he simply made up! This floored me because of the authoritative manner in which he spoke. The kids and I (and now the grandkids) call him Mr. Wizard for fun which always brings laughter.

We all have people in our lives whom we submit to their wisdom and authority in an effort to attain something. We base our pursuit of their answers on our belief in how much authority they carry in their area of expertise.

When Jesus walked the earth he quickly drew masses of people through his teachings. Jesus used parables which burned the message onto the hearts of his listeners because of how relative they were to the understanding of the people in those days. Christ uses the same manner to speak to us today, both individually and collectively. The more we allow Him to teach and guide us through our own “personal parable” we build confidence in His words and amazement in His knowledge.

With each building block of faith in His teaching, we experience both the authenticity and authority of His teachings for us personally and how it can be applied to our lives. Jesus was never reckless with the authority God had given Him just as we should always use our authority in whatever area for the good of God’s people.

God gives us authority in certain areas of our lives as gifts to be distributed to “the rest of His family” and we should be responsible and intentional with that authority.