More to more, less from less!

Matthew 13:10-17

Then the disciples came to Him and said, Why do You speak to them in parables? 11 And He replied to them, To you it has been given to know the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For whoever has [spiritual knowledge], to him will more be given and he will be furnished richly so that he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is the reason that I speak to them in parables: because having the power of seeing, they do not see; and having the power of hearing, they do not hear, nor do they grasp and understand. 14 In them indeed is the process of fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, which says: You shall indeed hear and hear but never grasp and understand; and you shall indeed look and look but never see and perceive. 15 For this nation’s heart has grown gross (fat and dull), and their ears heavy and difficult of hearing, and their eyes they have tightly closed, lest they see and perceive with their eyes, and hear and comprehend the sense with their ears, and grasp and understand with their heart, and turn and I should heal them. 16 But blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are your eyes because they do see, and your ears because they do hear. 17 Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men [men who were upright and in right standing with God] yearned to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Food for thought!

"Whoever has to him will more be given and he will be furnished richly so that he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away". At first sight this seems nothing less than injustice; but it is not, because it simply states a truth which is an inescapable law of life. 

In the school the student who labours more is capable of acquiring more knowledge. On the other hand, the student who is lazy and refuses to work inevitably loses even the little knowledge he has.

If you have some skill for a game or business, develop it, otherwise you will lose it. The diligent and hard-working person is in a position to be given more and more; the lazy person always loses even what he has. Any gift can be developed; and, since nothing in life stands still, if a gift is not developed, it is lost. By the way, this is why the rich tend to get richer and the poor tend to get poorer!

It is so with goodness. Every hardship or challenge we conquer makes us more able to conquer the next hardship or challenge. Every challenge we fail, makes us prone to fail the next one. Every good thing we do, every act of self-discipline and of service and of love, makes us better able for the next; and every time we fail to use such an opportunity we make ourselves less able to seize the next when it comes.

Life is always a process of gaining more or losing more; in life there's no standing still; or we are gaining ground or we are losing ground. Jesus is laying down the truth that the nearer we live to him, the more we develop our potential. And the more we drift away from him, the less we are able to reach our full potential.  More to more, less from less!