2178 The Parable of the Disciple
2178 The Parable of the Disciple  
Podcast: BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women
Published On: Thu Aug 13 2026
Description: Matthew 13:52, “Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.” Well what on earth is Jesus trying to show us here? Being a teacher of religious law means you know your Bible. You know facts. You know history. You know verses. You know order. But there’s more than just knowledge of the Bible for us – we are invited to become DISCIPLES. As a disciple of Jesus, we are his STUDENTS. Do you see the interesting dynamic Jesus is introducing here – for those who call themselves teachers, those who know all there is to know about the Bible, we can then go even deeper by being a student of Jesus. We can learn from him. Jesus wants to take us beyond the written word, he wants to reveal to us the things of Heaven. Have you ever studied scripture and simply gotten nothing out of it? My friend, you could have the entire Bible memorized from cover to cover, which many ‘teachers of religious law’ did in these days, but fail to be a discipled as a student of Jesus. You could know everything there is to know about God’s word, but only have knowledge without meaning. God hasn’t called you to gather up more and more knowledge so you’re the most intelligent person with massive amounts of information. He’s called you to be a student of Jesus, learning spiritual ways beyond the words. Jesus calls us into relationship with him. In close relationship we can see how Jesus works. He says in Matthew 11: 29-30 MSG, “Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” You can’t learn that from reading. You could study for the rest of your life and never learn the unforced rhythms of grace. These are the things you will only learn in close relationship with Jesus as his disciple. Are you ready to really be a student of Jesus? Okay, then KEEP COMPANY with him. What would that really look like? Keeping company with Jesus means you invite Jesus to be with you in your everyday life. It’s beginning to live in a continual awareness that he is there. Wow, to think that Jesus is personally interested in YOU and every detail of your life. There’ a line in a song I love that says, “Never thought to stop and wonder – You made a million colors – And now you’re thinking about me.” Let that settle in for a moment. God had the capacity and creativity to make a million different colors in every different tone and shade, and now that same God is thinking about YOU!!!!! What???!!!!!! That must mean you’re special. That must mean he sees you as worthy. That must mean your life is for a purpose. And when you live with that awareness, life begins to take on a different color. Nothing is an accident. All things are truly working together for good in the hands of the God who is wild about you! And now, this great big, huge, all-knowing, all-powerful God has invited you to personally be his student and keep company with him?!!!!!!!!!!!!! As you’re walking through your every day, ordinary life, recognizing Jesus is actually with you – you will begin to open yourself up to what he is trying to teach you. THAT IS DISCIPLESHIP. This is how you will learn the unforced rhythms of grace. This is how you will learn to live freely and lightly. And this will change your life completely! These are the things you don’t get from just reading. This isn’t a class you can go to. This is one-on-one life training with the one who created life. Jesus teaching you. When Jesus says, “Walk with me, work with me – Watch how I do it”, he’s not asking you to take a class. He’s inviting you to be his apprentice. This is an apprenticeship. You watch the expert! Watch how Jesus handled hardship. Watch how he handled criticism. Watch how he responded when he was tired. Watch how he spent time with the Father praying. What how he dealt with interruptions. Watch how he LOVED. Watch how he forgave. Watch how he handled power. Watch how he trusted God. YOU LEARN BY WATCHING JESUS. Then, you start doing what you see him do. Today, this day of your real life, it is a classroom. Jesus is teaching you something here. Something beyond the typed words in your Bible. Something beyond the same stories you will read. Something personally designed for you to see Jesus working so you can learn to do the same. Today, you will learn patience. Today you will learn trust. Today you will learn surrender. Today you will learn peace. Today, your life is filled with opportunities to be disciplined by Jesus. YOU DON’T ALREADY KNOW EVERYTHING! Jesus has so much more he wants to teach you. Now, back to this parable. In the story, Jesus says the disciple (the student who is constantly learning) is like a homeowner who brings things out of his storeroom. Okay – you can’t bring out what you haven’t put in. Every time you spend time with Jesus, you’re putting something in the storeroom. This is how scripture comes alive. This is how lessons grow deep. This is when you see God’s answer to prayers. This is personally experiencing the faithfulness of God. THIS IS THE STOREHOUSE. You’ve been storing up all this goodness so you can bring it back out at any time. Old things and new things. Old promises and brand new revelations of how Jesus is working personally in your life. Old stories of how they’re unfolding in awesome new ways in this season. Isn’t it incredible how you can read the same verses and same stories in your Bible in a different season of life and find a whole new meaning? Yip – that’s what happens in the storehouse. As a student of Jesus you’re adding more and more and it just keeps growing and becoming more. Maybe the goal of your Christian life isn’t to become someone who knows the most about God. Maybe it’s to become someone who knows God so well that His ways become your ways. That’s why Jesus doesn’t simply invite you to read about Him. He says: “Come. Follow Me.” Walk with Me. Work with Me. Watch Me. Learn from Me. Keep company with Me. And eventually, without even realizing it, you’ll start responding like Him. You’ll start loving like Him. You’ll start forgiving like Him. You’ll start seeing people like Him. You’ll start trusting like Him. You’ll start living like Him. And that’s when the storeroom starts filling up. Not just with facts about Jesus. But with experiences of Jesus. Not just verses you’ve memorized. But truth you’ve lived. Not just knowledge in your head. But Jesus shaping your heart. And then, when life gets hard—or when someone else needs what you’ve learned—you can walk into your storeroom and say: “Oh, I’ve got something for this.” Because you’ve been keeping company with Jesus. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com