Study Desk

But what about the servant who does not know what his master wants? He also does things that deserve punishment. But he will get less punishment than the servant who knew what he should do. Whoever has been given much will be responsible for much. Much more will be expected from the one who has been given more."

No, they were not. But if you don't decide now to change your lives, you will all be destroyed like those people!

They were not. But I tell you if you don't decide now to change your lives, you will all be destroyed too!"

Jesus told this story: "A man had a fig tree. He planted it in his garden. He came looking for some fruit on it, but he found none.

He had a servant who took care of his garden. So he said to his servant, ‘I have been looking for fruit on this tree for three years, but I never find any. Cut it down! Why should it waste the ground?'

But the servant answered, ‘Master, let the tree have one more year to produce fruit. Let me dig up the dirt around it and fertilize it.

This woman that I healed is a true descendant of Abraham. But Satan has held her for 18 years. Surely it is not wrong for her to be made free from her sickness on a Sabbath day!"

"The door to heaven is narrow. Try hard to enter it. Many people will want to enter there, but they will not be able to go in.

If a man locks the door of his house, you can stand outside and knock on the door, but he won't open it. You can say, ‘Sir, open the door for us.' But he will answer, ‘I don't know you. Where did you come from?'

"You will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in God's kingdom. But you will be left outside. There you will cry and grind your teeth with pain.

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets. You stone to death the people God has sent to you. How many times I wanted to help your people. I wanted to gather them together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you did not let me.

But they would not answer his question. So he took the man and healed him. Then he sent the man away.

Everyone who makes themselves important will be made humble. But everyone who makes themselves humble will be made important."

Then you will have great blessings, because these people cannot pay you back. They have nothing. But God will reward you at the time when all godly people rise from death."

But all the guests said they could not come. Each one made an excuse. The first one said, ‘I have just bought a field, so I must go look at it. Please excuse me.'

"Later, the servant said to him, ‘Master, I did what you told me to do, but we still have places for more people.'

"If you come to me but will not leave your family, you cannot be my follower. You must love me more than your father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters—even more than your own life!

If you don't do that, you might begin the work, but you would not be able to finish. And if you could not finish it, everyone would laugh at you.

They would say, ‘This man began to build, but he was not able to finish.'

"Salt is a good thing. But if the salt loses its salty taste, you can't make it salty again.