Episode Details

Matthew 13:52, “Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.”

Well what on earth is Jesus trying to show us here? Being a teacher of religious law means you know your Bible. You know facts. You know history. You know verses. You know order. But there’s more than just knowledge of the Bible for us – we are invited to become DISCIPLES.

As a disciple of Jesus, we are his STUDENTS. Do you see the interesting dynamic Jesus is introducing here – for those who call themselves teachers, those who know all there is to know about the Bible, we can then go even deeper by being a student of Jesus. We can learn from him.

Jesus wants to take us beyond the written word, he wants to reveal to us the things of Heaven.

Have you ever studied scripture and simply gotten nothing out of it? My friend, you could have the entire Bible memorized from cover to cover, which many ‘teachers of religious law’ did in these days, but fail to be a discipled as a student of Jesus. You could know everything there is to know about God’s word, but only have knowledge without meaning.

God hasn’t called you to gather up more and more knowledge so you’re the most intelligent person with massive amounts of information. He’s called you to be a student of Jesus, learning spiritual ways beyond the words.

Jesus calls us into relationship with him. In close relationship we can see how Jesus works. He says in Matthew 11: 29-30 MSG, “Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

You can’t learn that from reading. You could study for the rest of your life and never learn the unforced rhythms of grace. These are the things you will only learn in close relationship with Jesus as his disciple.

Are you ready to really be a student of Jesus? Okay, then KEEP COMPANY with him. What would that really look like?

Keeping company with Jesus means you invite Jesus to be with you in your everyday life. It’s beginning to live in a continual awareness that he is there. Wow, to think that Jesus is personally interested in YOU and every detail of your life.

There’ a line in a song I love that says, “Never thought to stop and wonder – You made a million colors – And now you’re thinking about me.” Let that settle in for a moment. God had the capacity and creativity to make a million different colors in every different tone and shade, and now that same God is thinking about YOU!!!!! What???!!!!!!

That must mean you’re special. That must mean he sees you as worthy. That must mean your life is for a purpose.

And when you live with that awareness, life begins to take on a different color. Nothing is an accident. All things are truly working together for good in the hands of the God who is wild about you! And now, this great big, huge, all-knowing, all-powerful God has invited you to personally be his student and keep company with him?!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you’re walking through your every day, ordinary life, recognizing Jesus is actually with you – you will begin to open yourself up to what he is trying to teach you. THAT IS DISCIPLESHIP. This is how you will learn the unforced rhythms of grace. This is how you will learn to live freely and lightly. And this will change your life completely!

These are the things you don’t get from just reading. This isn’t a class you can go to. This is one-on-one life training with the one who created life. Jesus teaching you.

When Jesus says, “Walk with me, work with me – Watch how I do it”, he’s not asking you to take a class. He’s inviting you to be his apprentice. This is an apprenticeship. You watch the expert!

Watch how Jesus handled hardship. Watch how he handled criticism. Wat