Read Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 with your family.

We have bounced around Mathew 13 over the last few weeks. When the writer and editor put this chapter together, they picked up on the first part of a few stories later in the chapter. That is why we have been bouncing around.

But all of Matthew 13 is about Jesus helping his followers and others who were listening to these stories understand what Jesus wanted them to learn. Sometimes for grown-ups it is easier to hear truth in stories than it is if they just talk plainly. Kids are good at talking plainly. Adults are not.

In the stories from today, Jesus compares heaven to a lot of different things: something small that can get so large it will provide food and shelter for everyone (mustard seed); something even tinier that will grow and grow until it provides for everyone (yeast in bread); something that is like a discovery that is so wonderful we want to tell everyone (treasure in the field); something so valuable that a person will sell everything they own just to have it (pearl); something that will grab everyone up together (fishing net)

At the end of the passage is still the reminder that good and bad will be separated. This is also a story that give lots of warning so we know to make good choices .