Study Desk

Then I'll say to myself, ‘You have stored up enough good things to last for years to come. Live it up! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.'"

"This is what happens to people who store up everything for themselves, but are poor in the sight of God."

God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into a fire tomorrow. Won't he do even more for you? You have such little faith!

just like those servants who wait up for their master to return from a wedding feast. As soon as he comes and knocks, they open the door for him.

Peter asked Jesus, "Did you say this just for us or for everyone?"

But servants who don't know what their master wants them to do will not be beaten so hard for doing wrong. If God has been generous with you, he will expect you to serve him well. But if he has been more than generous, he will expect you to serve him even better.

About this same time Jesus was told that Pilate had given orders for some people from Galilee to be killed while they were offering sacrifices.

So he said to the gardener, "For three years I have come looking for figs on this tree, and I haven't found any yet. Chop it down! Why should it take up space?"

The gardener answered, "Master, leave it for another year. I'll dig around it and put some manure on it to make it grow.

and a woman was there who had been crippled by an evil spirit for eighteen years. She was completely bent over and could not straighten up.

This woman belongs to the family of Abraham, but Satan has kept her bound for eighteen years. Isn't it right to set her free on the Sabbath?"

Once the owner of the house gets up and locks the door, you will be left standing outside. You will knock on the door and say, "Sir, open the door for us!" But the owner will answer, "I don't know a thing about you!"

When the servant returned, he said, "Master, I've done what you told me, and there is still plenty of room for more people."

Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. What is the first thing you will do? Won't you sit down and figure out how much it will cost and if you have enough money to pay for it?

If he thinks he won't be able to defend himself, he will send messengers and ask for peace while the other king is still a long way off.

It is no longer good for the soil or even for the manure pile. People simply throw it out. If you have ears, pay attention!

If any of you has a hundred sheep, and one of them gets lost, what will you do? Won't you leave the ninety-nine in the field and go look for the lost sheep until you find it?

Not long after that, the younger son packed up everything he owned and left for a foreign country, where he wasted all his money in wild living.

He went to work for a man in that country, and the man sent him out to take care of his pigs.

The younger son got up and started back to his father. But when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt sorry for him. He ran to his son and hugged and kissed him.