Reflective Bible Study

Not long after Jesus shared the parable of the farmer sowing seed that we looked at in our last episode, we discover that Jesus shared a set of lesser-known parables with His disciples while they are alone together.

However, as I have grown up in church and have heard two of the three parables in this set explained many times, as I have grown with God, I have begun to wonder if we are stopping short of a powerful truth that Jesus wanted us to learn. Part of this stopping short is ignoring the last parable in this set, while another part of stopping short relates to only viewing these parables from one perspective and not two.

Similar to how our previous episode focused on a very foundational parable, as I have studied and focused on the set of parables we will be looking at in this episode, the framing of these parables have shaped how I look at every single one of Jesus’ other parables.

So without any further delay, let’s look at this set of parables in our passage for this episode. Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 13, and we will read it using the New International Version. Starting in verse 44, Jesus taught His disciples by saying:

⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. ⁴⁶ When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

⁴⁷ “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. ⁴⁸ When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. ⁴⁹ This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous ⁵⁰ and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

These three parables wrap up a longer series of parables that Jesus shares in the early portion of Matthew chapter 13. I have heard the first two parables in this set shared many times and in many different ways. But almost always, I have heard these two parables framed as parables challenging us believers to treasure and focus on finding God like we are looking for a pearl or like we just found a treasure hidden in a field.

I wholeheartedly agree with this truth: We are to be constantly on the lookout for hidden treasure and valuable pearls as represented in these two parables – and that Jesus is the most valuable treasure we can find.

However, too often, we stop here. I don’t recall ever hearing a sermon on the third parable in this set, and I’m skeptical if I have heard a sermon framing the first two parables differently than I just described.

When reading this set of parables, I am struck with the realization that the third parable does not fit the same frame that we often times place the first two parables in. While the first two parables can easily be understood in the context of us seeing treasure and fine pearls, the third parable, which also contains the theme of seeking good fish, prompts us to look from a different perspective. Since Jesus does briefly explain the third parable, we can understand and conclude that the third parable is shared from God’s perspective when Jesus returns.

This pushes us past where we might be otherwise inclined to go. If these three parables are all speaking to the same or similar truths, and the third parable in this set is clearly explained as being from God’s perspective, then the best place for us to start looking at the other two parables is if they were shared from God’s perspective as well.

This means that while we should value seeking God like a treasure hidden in a field or like a valuable pearl and sell everything we own to acquire the priceless treasure, looking at these parables from God’s perspective challenges us with the parallel truth that God does the exact same thing.

In the first parable, where the kingdom of heaven is framed as a treasure hidden in a field, we could imagine that God is looking out across the universe, and hidden in the field known as the Milky Way galaxy, is a small, bluish-green planet locally known as Planet Earth. On this planet is a treasure, and God “sells” everything to acquire it.

However, if you are objecting to this interpretation because you understand the truth that God owns everything already, you’re not wrong. However, the perspective in Jesus’ parable is not on who owns what, but how much the main character is willing to give up to purchase the treasure. By choosing to disobey God and sin, our race sold itself into sin and slavery, and through Jesus, God came and purchased us. Another way to say this truth is that God redeemed us.

To further emphasize this point, the second parable compares the kingdom of heaven to a merchant looking for fine pearls. While the first parable has the kingdom of heaven being a treasure, we are also taught that the kingdom of heaven is actively seeking additional treasure. This too is significant, because God is looking at every one of us and looking at our character. A merchant who specializes in fine pearls is going to know when he finds one that is exceptionally valuable, and Jesus makes the case in this parable that God is actively searching for valuable people that He can purchase and save. When He discovers people who He sees as valuable, He sold everything He could to buy us back.

While you may not think of yourself as valuable or special in your own eyes, God sees more in you than you could ever know or understand – and regardless of what you have done to make you think that you are not valuable, in God’s eyes, you are worth sending Jesus to die in your place. You are worthy of God’s redemption.

The third parable compares the kingdom of heaven with a fishing net. If God’s kingdom is like the net itself, then it gathers everyone, both the good and the bad, before separating the righteous, valuable people from those who are wicked.

In all three of these parables, the focus is on acquiring things of value. The explanation of the third parable gives context for this block of three. These three parables are important from God’s perspective, and He is actively seeking out each of us because we are valuable to Him.

All too often, we like to place ourselves in Jesus’ parables, but while we may initially think of ourselves as the man who finds hidden treasure, or as the merchant, or even as a fisherman, the perspective given from God’s eyes places us as part of the hidden treasure called planet earth, part of the exceptionally valuable pearl called the human race, and as a fish – hopefully a good fish – that was gathered and saved by Him.

God loves you and I so much that He sold everything in order to get us back. He succeeded, but has left us with the freedom to choose whether to be free in Him, or whether to reject His gift. God will not force His gift on us. Instead, He allows you and I to choose whether we accept this gift or not.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life. Understand and believe that God loves you so much that He paid the ultimate price to buy you back from sin. Realize that God loves you more than you could ever imagine.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself. Through prayer and Bible study, discover how you can grow closer to God as you move personally closer to Him through personal prayer and study. With personal prayer and Bible study, discover who God really is and just how much He loves you!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue moving through our first chronological year looking at events from Jesus’ life, we come to what many people may consider to be Jesus’ most famous parable. When we look a little closer at what Jesus shares about this parable, it is possible that this illustration is actually the most important parable in the entire Bible. This parable happens to also be among a very select group of parables that appear in three of the four gospels.

When looking at this parable and what Jesus teaches us within it, we get an amazing picture of God’s role and our role in the world today. While this parable is found in three of the gospels, let’s look at Mark’s version of it.

Our passage for this episode is found in Mark, chapter 4, and we will read it using the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, Mark tells us:

¹ Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. ² He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: ³ “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

Skipping down a couple verses, Jesus then explains this parable to the disciples when they are alone with Him. Coming back into chapter 4 at verse 13:

¹³ Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? ¹⁴ The farmer sows the word. ¹⁵ Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶ Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. ¹⁷ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ¹⁸ Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; ¹⁹ but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²⁰ Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

In this two-part passage, we have Jesus sharing one of His most famous parables as well as explain it to His disciples while they were alone together. One thing Mark includes that the other gospels don’t is Jesus’ pair of rhetorical questions in verse 13. Jesus asks the disciples: “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?”

This phrase clues me into the idea that Jesus perhaps thought that this parable was more significant than most of His other ones. While teaching and preaching, Jesus shared frequently about the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven through parables, but perhaps this parable is more foundational. Of all the parables Jesus shared, this one might be the parable we assume relates to God’s kingdom, while Jesus doesn’t actually attribute it to it. I suspect that regardless of the lack of attributing this to the kingdom of heaven, this parable actually speaks more to the state of our sin-filled human hearts and God’s desire to reach us than it does about teaching us a big truth about how God operates.

However, while this parable is famous, I suspect Jesus knew that His words might be taken out of context or misunderstood. To help there be no confusion among His followers, Jesus comes right out and says what He meant with this parable:

First off, Jesus states that the farmer sows the word. This tells me that the seed in the parable is God’s Word or God’s message. The primary action taken in this parable is spreading God’s message with others.

Next Jesus frames the different types of soil as different types of people.

First, He talks about the path, which is so hard that the seed has no place to go and that is quickly snatched away. This is like someone who is so closed to God, the Bible, or anything spiritual or religious that anything even remotely seen as spiritual is quickly discounted or ignored. This type of soil could also represent the person who is so busy that nothing new is able to get in – no new thoughts, ideas, or even rest.

Next Jesus talks about rocky places. These people receive God’s Word with joy, but their joy does not last. There is no foundation or root, and as soon as the first problem appears, they drop the whole idea. This soil describes people who abandon any faith or belief in God when challenged by someone from another worldview. These people aren’t “bad”, they just have no foundation or root structure to help them respond.

The third type of soil Jesus describes is the soil that has competition. Whereas the first two soils had outside opposition, this third type of soil has inside competition. Worries, stress, desire, and the money trap are all internal struggles that may not stop us from starting to grow, but they will keep us from maturing.

These first three types of soil describe people who never become who God wants them to be. These three types of soil all have various challenges, but they all share the characteristic that the seed the farmer sowed wasn’t able to mature.

However, these three types of soil are not permanent. A skilled farmer or gardener could break up the rock-hard path, remove the stones from the poor soil, and weed out the thorns to make good soil out of what was formerly poor soil. However, while this is an important message for you when thinking about which type of soil is closest to your current heart, this detail is not the focal point of this parable.

The fourth and last type of soil Jesus focused on is the good soil, and the seed sowed in this soil is able to take root and grow. These people hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop. However, it is worth noting that even in their fruitfulness, there are still differences in how fruitful each person is.

What is often missed in Jesus’ explanation of this fourth type of soil is that maturing and being fruitful is what God sees as important. How fruitful you are is not an issue. The farmer is just as happy with the thirty times growth as he is with the one hundred times growth. Both are very sustainable. In God’s eyes, being fruitful is more important than how fruitful you are.

Before wrapping up our episode, there’s one more detail I want to draw our attention to: In Jesus’ explanation of this parable, He never identifies who the farmer is. He starts by explaining that the seed is God’s word, and the soil types are how receptive people are, while completely skipping over who the farmer is. This detail is important for me because it leaves the role of farmer open.

While it is possible that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are the only acceptable Farmers in the context of this parable, I wouldn’t be surprised to discover Jesus sharing this parable with the intention that you and I could also step into the farmer role after we have matured in our relationship with God. Instead of worrying if we are one of the less-than-ideal types of soil, perhaps we should instead focus on being like the farmer and spreading God’s word and His message to those in our lives. If we chose to see ourselves as the farmer, not replacing Jesus but instead partnering with Him and His Holy Spirit, we might find ourselves to be more fruitful that we would otherwise realize or give ourselves credit for.

While I could go on talking about this parable, since it is one of my favorites, let’s save this discussion for later.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and ask Him to change your heart into being a better type of soil. Regardless of what type of soil you think your life or heart is, ask God to cultivate it into being the ideal soil that allows for Him to grow His truth in your life.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself in order to learn who Jesus really is – straight from God’s Word. While other people have ideas, take everything you read, hear, and see and filter it through the truth of God’s Word.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or let yourself be pulled away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue moving through Jesus’ life within the gospel record, we come to an event where some religious leaders challenge Jesus. However, when I read each of the three gospels that include this event, each gospel writer included a detail that I wanted to focus in on.

While one possible way to solve this problem would be to read the event from each of the gospels that includes it, that would result in reading three very similar sounding passages, and we might lose what makes each passage distinct.

Instead, I thought it would be beneficial to blend the three gospels together for this podcast episode. At the very least, this makes for an interesting reading of this event, and it may even help us see something new in what happened.

The three passages I will blend from are the following: Mark 3:22-27 will be the base passage I’ll read from, and I will pull in details from Matthew 12:24-30 and Luke 11:15-23. For all these passages, we’ll use the Contemporary English Version of the Bible. For those who are interested in which verses are from which gospel, this info will be included in the transcript for this episode. Starting in Mark, chapter 3, verse 22, we read that:

^{Mark 3:22} Some teachers of the Law of Moses came from Jerusalem and said, “This man is under the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons! He is even forcing out demons with the help of Beelzebul.”

^{Luke 11:16} Others wanted to put Jesus to the test. So they asked him to show them a sign from God.

^{Mark 3:23} Jesus told the people to gather around him. Then he spoke to them in riddles and said:

How can Satan force himself out? ^{Matthew 12:25b} Any kingdom where people fight each other will end up ruined. And a town or family that fights will soon destroy itself. ^{Matthew 12:26} So if Satan fights against himself, how can his kingdom last? ^{Matthew 12:27} If I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons, whose power do your own followers use to force them out? Your followers are the ones who will judge you. ^{Matthew 12:28} But when I force out demons by the power of God’s Spirit, it proves that God’s kingdom has already come to you. ^{Mark 3:26} So if Satan fights against himself, that will be the end of him.

^{Luke 11:21} When a strong man arms himself and guards his home, everything he owns is safe. ^{Luke 11:22} But if a stronger man comes and defeats him, he will carry off the weapons in which the strong man trusted. Then he will divide with others what he has taken. ^{Luke 11:23} If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don’t gather in the crop with me, you scatter it.

When reading this compilation of these three gospels, we can see some significant themes and ideas. If you are interested in which verses went with each gospel, listen for the link I’ll share at the end of this episode, and look at the transcript for this information. In the transcript, I will have each verse and reference listed.

With this teaching pulled together from these three gospels, let’s look a little closer at it.

Mark’s gospel opens Jesus’ response by saying that Jesus spoke to the people in riddles, or other translations might say parables or illustrations. I find this detail significant because, at least for me, I remember the stories and illustrations that make me think better than the ones where I could correctly guess the punch line or conclusion.

I suspect that you and I may be similar in this regard. We might forget or ignore something that is too simple to be worth remembering or too abstract that we cannot even grasp it, but there is a window in between these two extremes that the right story or illustration can fit into.

Next, we switched over to Matthew’s gospel and discovered that Jesus didn’t just use riddles and stories, Jesus also defended His ministry using logic. In this short conversation-debate with the religious leaders, Jesus counters the challenge about whether He uses Satan’s power to cast Satan out using two logical conclusions.

First, Jesus says that Satan’s kingdom would self-destruct if it faced internal conflict with some sides casting out other sides. It would be similar to describing Satan’s forces experiencing a civil war, and internal wars between people on the same team never make the whole team stronger.

Secondly, Jesus says that the argument these religious leaders present, which suggests that Jesus uses Satan’s power to cast out demons, also incriminates their own priests and teachers who do the same thing. Jesus doesn’t discount God’s Spirit working through the priests and Pharisees who cast evil spirits out, but He challenges them on the idea that God only works through some avenues and not others when both outcomes are the same.

From Matthew’s gospel, we discover that Jesus taught a logical gospel, and that the gospel of Jesus is one that can be defended and supported with logic. As Christ’s disciples living in the world today, we should not fear or avoid defending our faith with logic. Christianity may be one of the most logical worldviews in existence today.

Next, we turn primarily to the gospel of Luke and discover another aspect related to how Jesus taught, which is illustrated by a strong man guarding his home. Not only does Jesus build on the parable-story and logic methods, He also brings in the method of having an overall theme that He is leading people to.

The theme that Jesus draws our attention to in this passage is that who we place our trust in matters more than we might realize: Will we trust in ourselves, like the strong man did, or will we trust someone stronger? This theme also is applicable to the logical arguments, because it matters who we place our trust in regarding God and Satan. Jesus is clearly illustrating that God is stronger, and that we should be placing our trust in Him.

The biggest key conclusion to Jesus’ teaching comes with a final punch: There is no middle ground. It is both a key point, and a challenge. Jesus isn’t trying to scare people into following Him, since fear is not a lasting motivator. Instead, Jesus brings this portion of His teaching to a very practical point of decision, and He leaves this decision in the hands of His listeners.

In these three gospel accounts of Jesus teaching on where His power comes from and on where we should place our trust, we find some excellent lessons on how to effectively teach others. Jesus shows us how to use illustrations, make people think, use logic, include an overall theme, and bring everything down to one single point that can be taken away and applied.

Jesus teaches us how to teach through His excellent teaching. If you are someone who leads, teaches, or who influences others, it is worth asking the question, “How can you use Jesus’ methods for your next presentation?”

However, before even beginning to apply Jesus’ methods, let’s briefly look a little closer at Jesus’ key point in Luke, chapter 11, verse 23: “If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don’t gather in the crop with me, you scatter it.” Jesus’ key point in this teaching is that we must actively be gathering people with Him, because if not, we are against Him. There is no middle ground on this issue.

As followers of Jesus, we are called and challenged to point people to Jesus. If you are allied with Jesus, is leading people to Him the primary focus of your life?

While answering this question may be difficult to admit or accept, there is a right answer to this question, no matter how politically incorrect it may be in society today, and that right answer leads God’s people into eternity!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life. Intentionally look for ways to point people to Jesus and to tell others about Him. When our lives are over, the only thing that will have mattered is our personal relationship with Jesus.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow personally towards God. The only way we are able to effectively share Jesus with those around us is if we know Jesus for ourselves. The best way to learn about Jesus and grow closer to Him is through regularly praying and studying the Bible.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

If you have ever wondered if Jesus clashed with first century culture, or if you have ever opened your Bible looking for examples of something Jesus did that would have been culturally upsetting, you don’t need to look further than the passage we will be looking at in this episode.

However, for our time looking at this passage, instead of focusing on the culturally upsetting nature of the event, allow me to think out loud with you about a question that we might not have any way of answering. The question that I have about Jesus revolves around what prompted Jesus to act in the way He did leading up to the miracle this passage includes.

In this passage, Jesus breaks some cultural norms, and it appears as though He says something we might think is really insensitive, before shifting the focus of this event with a miracle. From this event, we are able to see a glimpse into Jesus’ heart and His motivation that may be easily missed if we read through this passage too quickly.

Whether you have studied this passage before or not, we can learn a lot from spending time focusing on how Jesus acted and responded to others while walking this earth. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to be like Him, and the first step is to understand who He is through how He acted.

The event we’ll be digging into is a short one, and it is only included in the gospel of Luke. Our passage can be found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 7, and we will be reading it using the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 11, Luke tells us that:

¹¹ Some time later, Jesus went to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd went along with him. ¹² He approached the town gate. Just then, a dead person was being carried out. He was the only son of his mother. She was a widow. A large crowd from the town was with her. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, he felt sorry for her. So he said, “Don’t cry.”

¹⁴ Then he went up and touched the coffin. Those carrying it stood still. Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” ¹⁵ The dead man sat up and began to talk. Then Jesus gave him back to his mother.

¹⁶ The people were all filled with wonder and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” ¹⁷ This news about Jesus spread all through Judea and the whole country.

In this passage, Jesus resurrects the son of a widow. While it probably wasn’t commonplace to have a dead person being carried out of town, it wouldn’t be a stretch for me to imagine it was rare. Life expectancies were shorter during that era than they are now, which meant that there may have been dozens, if not hundreds, of these funeral processions every year. With this detail in mind, we could logically conclude that this was not the only funeral procession Jesus ever passed. If Jesus passed by dozens of funerals during His time on earth, not many resurrection miracles were recorded.

That makes this event extra special, extra important, and worth digging in to. While stopping a funeral processional is inconsiderate at best, Jesus does the unthinkable because He wants to do the impossible – specifically raise a dead boy back to life.

For this event, Luke sets the stage by saying that the deceased person was the only son of a widow. This detail may have pushed Jesus to act. The deceased individual could have been a young boy, a teenager, or a young adult, and we have no idea what caused his death. The fact that a large crowd was present could mean that this was a very prominent widow in this town, or perhaps that her late husband was well known and respected and the townspeople cared for the widows who lived there. At the very least, a large crowd in this procession meant that many people wished to support this woman in her loss, and that they felt sorry for her situation.

With the stage set and the funeral procession leaving town, Jesus enters the scene. The first thing Luke includes in this event about Jesus is that Jesus felt sorry for the widow and that He had compassion. He focuses first on the woman who has lost so much. This is important for us to note because what He says next could be seen as the opposite of compassion.

While feeling sorry for the widow, the first words out of Jesus’ mouth to the woman in verse 13 are “Don’t cry.” If you have wondered if Jesus was ever insensitive to someone, a quick reading of Jesus’ first words to this widow would be a very clear example. This widow has a very valid reason to cry. Her husband is dead, and now her only son is too. She has lost the two most important people in her life. With this phrase, Jesus could come across as sounding really arrogant and insensitive. Imagine walking into a funeral where a young child has just died and telling the mother to stop crying. In situations like these, context matters, and this is why Luke specifically tells us that Jesus felt sorry for the woman before He said anything.

In my mind, this woman was hysterical and overwhelmed with grief. I believe Jesus’ tone when He spoke to the woman was filled with compassion and sympathy. While it was shocking to stop the funeral procession and tell this woman to stop crying, this combined set of actions likely served the dual purposes of getting the woman to pay attention and shift her focus onto the life that God is able to give being more powerful than the death and loss she was currently experiencing.

From Jesus’ love and compassion for the woman, we ultimately are able to read about this miracle. After getting the woman’s attention, Jesus raises the young man from the dead and then gives him back to her.

Everything about this miracle speaks to Jesus having compassion for someone who was hurting. Raising the young man from the dead was not for the crowd’s benefit, or for the disciple’s attention, or even for the young man’s future – it was entirely centered on comforting a grieving mother and giving her back the most precious thing she had.

Seeing Jesus as someone who is moved to act when He sees people who are hurting helps us understand an important part of His character. Jesus was moved to help people not from a detached logical frame of mind, but from an emotional, compassionate love for individual people. As modern day disciples of Jesus, we are called to help people in an emotionally loving and compassionate way.

In our world today, we show Jesus’ compassion to others best when we help others who are hurting in compassionate and loving ways. By understanding Jesus’ heart and how He was moved by compassion, we are able to do the same for those we meet in our own lives.

For Jesus, it was first compassion, then comfort, then committing to help where He could. If all of us who call ourselves modern day disciples and followers of Jesus did just these three things, the world as we know it would be transformed.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life. Choose to be a representative and model of Jesus to a world that is desperate for God’s love even if it doesn’t know how to show it, or even recognized it.

To accomplish this, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to discover what God is really like, and while you study, keep your eyes open for examples of how Jesus loved people. While other people have ideas about God and about Jesus, choose to study the truth out for yourself from the pages of the Bible.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!