Issuu

Presented to

On the Occasion of Date

The PARABLES DEVOTIONS for MEN

GLENN HASCALL

YOU are the reason we do what we do here at Barbour Publishing. We promise that we will always use our God-given talents to produce content with you in mind—and that we will remain biblically faithful, no matter what.

Thank you for being the heart of our business.

ISBN 979-8-89151-363-1

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without written permission of the publisher. Reproduced text may not be used on the World Wide Web. No Barbour Publishing content may be used as artificial intelligence training data for machine learning, or in any similar software development.

Churches and other noncommercial interests may reproduce portions of this book without the express written permission of Barbour Publishing, provided that the text does not exceed 500 words and that the text is not material quoted from another publisher. When reproducing text from this book, include the following credit line: “From The Parables Devotions for Men, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Used by permission.”

Scripture quotations marked nlt are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Cover Design: Greg Jackson, Thinkpen Design

Published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., 1810 Barbour Drive, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683, www.barbourbooks.com

Our mission is to inspire the world with the life-changing message of the Bible.

Printed in China.

INTRODUCTION

In the first three books of the New Testament, you’ll find stories shared by Jesus. These stories are called parables, which are tales that teach through comparison. Some are basic analogies and a few are full-blown allegories. On occasion, they made sense only to a few.

Yet throughout the millennia, these already-simple stories have been even further simplified—mostly for the younger, Sunday school crowd. But what if there’s a depth to these stories that can offer a greater perspective on who Jesus is and what He wants from the men who follow Him?

Early parables were very short, and Jesus would often spend time explaining their meaning to His disciples. Perhaps because these men were growing in their friendship with Him, Jesus started telling longer and more complex stories.

As you read this book, you’ll join Jesus’ twelve disciples in uncovering the riches of these parables. We’ll dive into questions like “How did the story connect to Jesus’ original audience?” and “How is it relevant to me?”

These stories run the gamut of human experience— addressing social issues like bias and injustice, clarifying God’s plan of salvation, stressing the importance of personal decisions, and explaining what God really wants from His people.

Sometimes, you’ll think He’s talking directly to you. Then again. . .isn’t that what His Word was intended to do?

Jesus was all about changing minds, opening hearts, and inspiring action. So as you study His stories, prepare for your attitudes to be challenged and your decisions to be placed in the spotlight.

Welcome to a personal tour of Jesus’ greatest stories. . .and the applications that lead to wisdom.

PATCH REFUSAL

“Who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before.”

M atthew 9:16 nlt

If you have a son, grandson, or nephew, then you’ve seen the very best of their highly developed skills in the art of rough and tumble. Those jean-tearing, knee-skinning skills can leave mothers weeping at all that precious cloth now torn to shreds. As a result, creative solutions are sometimes devised. Some parents use patches to repair the rip. Others might sew a new piece of fabric in place or convert them to another pair of shorts. Sound familiar?

When Jesus gave this simple story, His listeners would have known exactly what happened when fabric was patched with the wrong cloth. The new fabric would shrink at a different rate than the original cloth. What might have been a small hole at the beginning could become much larger. . .making the initial problem even worse.

Imagine being a first-century man hearing Jesus’ analogy. Would you have found it interesting? Sure, its surface-level meaning was relatable, but did this preacher have a deeper point to make? (Hint: He did.)

This simple story moves to profound territory if the listener makes the mental leap from torn fabric to torn lives. Essentially, Jesus was saying that each one of us is like a piece of fabric that can be torn, frayed, and misused. And when the wrong kind of “patching” is applied, it only makes things worse.

That’s where Jesus comes in. The new life He offers is made from better and indestructible fabric. Jesus isn’t content to simply stick a bandage on an open wound. Rather, He

makes life vibrant for His followers by replacing their old lives with something entirely new. Their old ragged clothes are irreparable, so Jesus offers a whole fresh suit.

Maybe some people in Jesus’ audience wondered if this sounded too good to be true. Was it like those misleading “life hack” tutorials you see on social media? No! Jesus wasn’t peddling misinformation; He was redefining the way people thought about God and how He wanted to relate to them.

If you ever see a child with a hole in his jeans, remember that God’s repair of human lives goes far beyond a slipshod patch. But to receive His amazing new life, stop trying to repair what’s irreparable. Simply accept His gift that can never be destroyed.

CONSIDER THIS. . .

❧ Why is it impossible to fully repair life on your own?

❧ What do you find most profound when considering life replacement over life repair?

The stories Jesus told have more meaning than I’ve considered, Father. Open my eyes to see the value of a new life, and give me a new understanding of these simple stories that can radically change my perspective.

CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE

“No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” M ark 2:22 niv

Go back in time—back before stainless-steel containers, travel mugs, or store-bought water bottles. Before there were Styrofoam or plastic or paper cups, liquids were stored in containers made from animal skins—often from goats. As wine aged in those skins, yeast created an abundance of carbon dioxide, which then expanded within the wineskin, stretching it and making the container “thin skinned.” This container probably wouldn’t survive a refill. When it expanded with a second batch of wine, it could burst. . .and become worthless for any further use. In other words, wineskins had a shelf life.

You can actually re-create this experience now. Blow a balloon up to near-maximum capacity, clip the end without tying it off, and let it sit for a week. Then remove the clip, release the air, and blow it up again to the same fullness as before. You might just find that it will pop before it gets there. For both a wineskin and a balloon, internal pressure compromises the elasticity of the container. It simply isn’t designed to deal with long-term pressure changes.

This idea meshes with the last reading’s analogy of putting a new patch on old clothing. It cannot last. Similarly, some people will wait until their life reaches a state of internal collapse before they consider replacing it with a life that’s new and lasts forever.

Imagine all the ah-has that rippled through Jesus’ crowd as they made that connection! To be filled with God, they would need Him to replace what they were with what they

were created to be. They couldn’t just fill their same-old “life skin” with Jesus’ new message. It simply wouldn’t fit. Rather, they needed Him to replace the container itself, radically changing their life from the top down.

The same is true for you. There’s no work-around. There’s no way to self-help yourself into a sturdier life skin. There was and is only one way to get this new vessel, and it won’t be because of anything you can do. It’s all because of what Jesus did.

Every tale that Jesus told had a very specific meaning, and everything you read here can help you discover rich truths within these “simple” stories.

CONSIDER THIS. . .

❧ Why is it so hard to believe that you need help—and then accept it?

❧ How will you embrace the idea of a new “life skin” today?

I’m tired of being empty or worn out, Lord. Everything I try on my own just falls short of what You can do. Give me new life and a new life skin for all the gifts You want me to enjoy.

BRING ON THE LIGHT

“No man, when he has lit a candle, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a candlestick, that those who enter in may see the light. For nothing is secret that shall not be made public, nor anything hidden that shall not be known and come into view.”

l uke 8:16–17 skjv

Do you read the Bible, pray, and go to church? If so, great! Each of these options can ignite your life like a match held against dry wood. It brightens things up and lets you see spiritual truth in a clearer way. That’s exceptional news. . .but before it can make a difference, you need to take what you read and learn how to apply it toward growing in your friendship with Jesus.

Take today’s parable, for instance. It teaches that you can’t discover good things about Jesus and then say, “Thanks, God, that’s very helpful, but I’m not telling anyone. Let’s just keep this good news our little secret.” Hiding the good news of the gospel to keep other people from bothering you or asking you questions is just as absurd as lighting a candle and then hiding it under your bed.

Admittedly, the candle analogy is a little less relatable in the twenty-first century. But you can replace it with a flashlight or cell phone screen and the message remains just the same. The point is, the whole purpose of turning on a light is that people can see. And often, people don’t know just how much they’re missing until you strike that match or turn on that flashlight. Suddenly, this tiny light becomes impossible to ignore, as it draws attention to itself and illuminates the entire room.

People who need that light will be thankful for its ability to illuminate hazards they should avoid. They may want to know where you got your light source. They might even want to stick by your side so they can personally avoid darkness.

Most darkness dwellers will deceive themselves into thinking they’ve adapted to the darkness. But even the most stubborn among them are still attracted to the light—the same light some Christians try to hide out of fear of losing their reputation as “cool.”

The light God has given you illuminates your path forward, invites others to join you, and reveals things people need to know about God. Your life can be an invitation for darkness dwellers to take a look at what they’ve been missing. Refusing to share this light—withholding life-saving illumination from those who need it—is nothing less than the theft of good news.

If you’re regularly lighting God’s candle in your own life to understand what you’re seeing, why would you ever try to keep others from noticing as well?

CONSIDER THIS. . .

❧ Are you tempted to keep your friendship with Jesus a secret? Why or why not?

❧ What made God’s light attractive to you? Why might others find this light attractive?

Sometimes I fear others might see me as foolish, God. So I’m tempted to hide my light, change my words, and act as if You’re not important. When I do this, I’m denying I know You and I’m lying to others. May I use Your light to help others find You.

NEW LIFE ROAD

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.”

M atthew 7:24–25 nlt