Proverbs 13:12-19

A longing fulfilled is a tree of life and sweet to the soul.

Fulfillment vs. Frustration.

This section shows how wise actions and foolish actions lead to contrasting outcomes: a sick heart or a life-giving tree.

Wise actions include obeying God’s commands, heeding wise instruction and correction, acting prudently, and serving reliably. Such behavior will result, respectively, in reward, a fountain of life, favor, healing, and honor–a truly “sweet” outcome!

[from The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary]

Proverbs 13:20

Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.

You become the average of the three to five people you spend the most time with.

Matthew 13:3, 11-17

He had much to say to them, and He said it all in parables.

Why did Jesus speak in parables?

It’s difficult for me to grasp fully, but the allusion here is so that those who are truly open and seeking truth will understand and be enlightened. And those who are not open, who are set in their ways, will not even have the capacity to hear or see what is being communicated. This is, at least in part, due to the fact that their pride won’t even allow them to look into these deep treasures any further than what a shallow, haughty glance would be able to discern.

I am learning more and more the truth that–God wants to be wanted. God desires to be sought after and pursued. He is for those desperately seeking and desiring Him, desiring Truth. He is not something to be tacked on to what we are already doing, to the life we are living on our own. No, He desires to be our everything, and He wants to heal and fulfill and give us joy.