Devotional

Your Unique Expression of God’s Kingdom (Matthew 13:48b-50)

Are you pursuing God’s will for your life? Our Creator has designed each one of us for a special purpose. Accordingly, Jesus concluded His Parable of the Net describing the Father’s pursuit of our response.

God fishes for the unique expression of His kingdom in us: “Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:48b-50). In the Parable of the Net, the fishermen kept the good fish for the service they had designed, and they discarded the bad. Jesus said that this was a picture of judgment day when the angels separate the wicked from the righteous (see Matthew 13:50). The righteous, those in Christ, continue in their unique expression of God’s kingdom in them. The wicked, those outside Christ, are tossed into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, symbols of agony, sadness, and regret (also see Romans 2:7-11). The agony, sadness, and regret stem from the lost opportunity to surrender to Christ, forever removed from the seas uniquely designed for them to fish for men.

What is God’s unique expression of His kingdom in you? What sea has He uniquely designed for you to fish for men, making disciples of Christ? The key to the answer lies in what energizes you, what makes you cry, and what you would do regardless of the outcome.

God fishes for all men in order to find Christ in them. A true disciple of Christ is one who makes other disciples. If we are in Christ, then we will fish for men, who will fish for men, who will fish for men (see Matthew 4:19-20).

Episode 244: Parable of the Net from mitchkrusetv on Vimeo.