Luke Week 17 • Luke 18:35-19:44

Show Notes

May 30th, 2021 • David Allen

"As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” — Luke 19:37-38

–
Podcast: https://pod.link/willowridgechurch
Website: https://willowridgechurch.org
Instagram: https://instagram.com/willowridgechurch
Facebook: https://facebook.com/willowridgechurch
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@willowridgechurch

Creators and Guests

Host

David Allen

Executive Pastor of Connections & Care

What is Willow Ridge Sermons?

Sermon audio from Sunday services at Willow Ridge Church.

Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.

This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons.

We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear

the latest message.

Thanks for listening.

So a few Sundays ago, probably actually before that, Pastor Bo came and said, Dave, would

you mind teaching on Graduate Sunday for us?

You know, you spent time with them this past couple of semesters, and so I said, sure, thank

you, because I am honored that I get to share with you today on behalf of our graduates, as

this is their special day.

And as I think back to the last nine months, I've had the opportunity, along with my wife,

Tricia, along with Ben and Natalie Wood, as well as Jeff Lawson, to spend nine months in

building relationships, nine months in teaching them various passages of scriptures from God's

word, and really getting to know them.

You know, and I'll be honest with you, when I stepped back into that arena of youth ministry

with them, I really had put that part of me behind me several years ago.

And I was like, what did I say yes to Bo for?

You know, I mean, he's my boss.

That's one good reason why you say yes to your boss.

But, you know, but it really has been such a blessing to be with you guys in the last nine

months, and just getting to know you, and allowing us the opportunity to open up God's

word and share together.

And over that time, we've asked them a hundred questions.

We've asked the senior hires that came on Wednesday night to Ben and Natalie's house, we asked them

a hundred or more questions just based on the Bible study that we did together.

And so, a few weeks ago, as I was reading Luke chapter 19, I was sitting in my office during

the first service Sunday morning, and usually I'm doing odds and ends that I need to accomplish

for that day.

And on this particular Sunday morning, I just had the opportunity to say, well, I'm going

to go ahead and read Luke 19, just kind of get ahead of the game.

And so, as I read through Luke 19, God literally just jumped some questions in my mind.

And I was like, wow.

Because other times that I've prepared to teach, whether it be in a group setting or like this

on a Sunday morning, I'm usually kind of, I need to do a few more days or weeks to kind

of get things together.

But on this particular Sunday, God said, here's some questions for you, Dave.

Matter of fact, here's some questions that you can ask and build this message around.

And of course, as I started thinking through those questions, I also started thinking about,

you know, this is graduation Sunday.

You know, the families are excited because of this time of the year.

You know, I was asking Bennett before the service, hey, when's your graduation?

You know, this time of the year, all those emotions start to flood in.

You know, as we look at these pictures together and parents start to reminisce.

You know, I'm not trying to get moms and dads starting to cry early or anything like that.

But that's just what this time of the year is about.

And you begin to think about them growing up.

And so I started thinking, you know what?

From the time that we're born, once we hit about age two, somewhere in there, we start

having to address questions in our life, right?

When you get about two, three, somewhere in there, we start to ask questions.

For instance, out in the lobby, I saw Carla standing there with her two boys there.

And, you know, here's testimony that time flies.

At age 18, you go, where's all this time going?

And Carla said, well, he's eight and he's four.

And one of my favorite questions to ask a little one when I see him age two or three is, how

old are you?

The reason that it's such a joy is because they start to fumble with their hands.

Like, okay, I'm expecting an audible response here, but they start going, lifting up two.

If they're three, they start to peel that.

I don't know what the deal is about three-year-olds peeling that third finger up.

I don't know if it's hard to get up and they start peeling that third finger up, you know.

Then they start to answer questions, right?

Well, that doesn't stop.

From that point on, we start to filter more questions.

What is your favorite color?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

What are you doing after you graduate high school?

What are you going to do for a living as you process through college?

And then when you see somebody dating after college and life, you say, how long have you

been dating?

And that's always followed up, well, when will you get married?

And then some of us like to really expedite things.

And we hit that when do you get married thing after somebody's been married only a few months.

And we hit them with the question on how are you going, when are you going to have kids?

It's like, whoa, slow down.

You're getting a little ahead of yourself.

We just got married.

We want to get to know each other.

But, you know, we start hitting question after question.

And then how many kids will you have?

And then this is a question I start.

I'm starting.

I'm at that stage in life.

In a few weeks, I'll be 55 years old.

And when you start asking that question, when are you going to retire?

You start processing that.

So question after question after question.

From the time we're two or three, we field questions all our life, don't we?

You'll probably field some questions today.

Some you may want to answer and some you may not want to answer.

But the amazing thing for me is this, is when I looked at Luke chapter 19, I felt like the

Holy Spirit threw these questions out to me.

It also caused me to think about what God's Word does for you and I.

When you open up God's Word, you're going to discover either an actual question that you

find in God's Word.

As a staff, Bo on Tuesday has been leading us through the book of James.

And James gets really pointed in asking his readers questions.

Questions that you have to ask yourself.

Questions that you have to find answers for yourself.

But all through God's Word, Old Testament, New Testament, there are questions that are

right on the page.

But within God's Word, there's also those questions that arise, that come up to the top

because of the Holy Spirit stirring in your life.

And whether it be a parable or whether it be a story that you're reading in the Old or New

Testament, God says, what about this question?

What do you think about this?

This is what Hebrews chapter 4, verses 12 through 13 says about God's Word.

For the Word of God is living and active.

Stop there for a second.

God's Word is not dead.

God's Word does not have, it is relevant to our life.

Because just as we just read, it is living and active.

Anytime that you and I place our life in God's Word, anytime we're reading God's Word, it becomes

active to our heart, our mind, and our spirit.

The only reason it may not is because we're not listening.

We're not responding.

Sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints

and of marrow, and discerning the hearts, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Listen to that.

So when you and I read God's Word, it is there by way of the Holy Spirit, causing you and

I to discern our thoughts and our intentions of our heart.

See, from our heart comes our thoughts, our emotions.

And God says here, my Word is going to help you discern your thoughts, and it's going to

help you discern your intentions.

Verse 13 goes on to say, and no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and

exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.

And so, as I read Luke 19, the Lord just hit me with some questions.

And in Luke 19, verses 1 through 10, a very familiar passage to you and I, the first question

that the Lord hit me with is, what is my purpose?

And so, our graduates and everybody here in the room and those who are watching us, what

is your purpose?

You see, this passage is familiar because if you grew up in the church, you know, at my

age, you went to Sunday school and you learned on this thing called a flannel board.

It was flannel and the teacher stuck some kind of figure up on the flannel board and they taught

taught you what the passage of Scripture was about.

Or if you're in this room and you're the age of, of like, Ben and Elizabeth and Wyatt, you

might have saw it in a cartoon on a TV.

It's the story of Zacchaeus.

And what we read about Zacchaeus is that Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector, meaning he was

over other tax collectors.

And it was his responsibility to gather taxes from his own people for the Roman government.

That was his task.

But as many tax collectors of that time, what they did was they always skimmed a little bit.

They always patted their own pocket.

And Zacchaeus was one of those.

And Zacchaeus was rich because of that.

But Zacchaeus had heard about this man named Jesus and he knew that Jesus was coming through

because Jesus was, again, as Bo shared with us last week, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.

It was at this time that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem because he knew that it was a point

in time for him to die on the cross and for him to raise from the dead.

So he's journeying in to Jerusalem.

And so Zacchaeus, one of the things about him was Zacchaeus was short.

And so Zacchaeus knew, if I'm going to get a glimpse of Jesus, I've got to figure this out.

And so Zacchaeus figured it out.

He climbed up in a sycamore tree.

And Zacchaeus got above the crowd because there was a large crowd of people following Jesus.

And he got up in that tree and he could see Jesus.

Now, this is not part of the scripture, but I can only imagine that Zacchaeus was probably

thinking, as I could see Jesus, he might have been thinking about his day too.

Well, you know, I've got to collect some more taxes today.

But what Zacchaeus doesn't realize is that Jesus got a point with him.

And no matter what was on his calendar, no matter what he had on his mind on the people

he needed to see that day, that day was going to get interrupted because Jesus needed to see him.

And so when Jesus walks by and he makes contact with Zacchaeus, Jesus calls Zacchaeus by name.

I love that.

He doesn't say, yo, you tax collector, come on down.

You and I got to have a conversation.

You got to get some things right.

No, he calls Zacchaeus by name.

That part of scripture right there is evidence for you and I that Jesus knows us.

We're not just some random figure.

Jesus knows us.

When you see the accounts of Jesus that Jesus has on one-on-one, which are multitudes in the Gospels,

you see how personal Jesus is.

And he calls Zacchaeus by name.

He says, Zacchaeus, come on down because I'm going to go to your house.

Jesus basically said, hey, I'm inviting myself for supper.

And so if it's all right with you, Zacchaeus, we'll go to your house.

Calls him by name, goes to his house.

And it's so beautiful what we see in scripture that happens.

Look at Luke 19, starting at verse 8.

And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.

Zacchaeus is making a change in his life.

He's making a change in the purpose of who he is.

In that very moment, he's going from being a chief tax collector to all of a sudden,

just in that conversation and connection with Jesus, he's now giving everything he has away.

And not only that, he says, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything,

I restore it fourfold.

I'm going to give back more than what I took.

A lot of things are happening in this moment.

Because again, Zacchaeus serves the Roman government and collects the things that they want him to collect.

And now he's saying, I'm giving it away.

It's going against what he's supposed to be about.

But in that moment, Jesus changes the purpose of his life just because of the encounter that Zacchaeus has with Jesus.

So if you and I were to ask Zacchaeus in that moment, Zacchaeus, what is your purpose?

In that moment, he would say, my purpose is to serve Jesus and to change my way of life.

We go on to see in verse 9, and Jesus said to him, because of the change, today salvation has come to this house since he is also a son of Abraham.

Salvation came to the house of Zacchaeus.

Jesus recognized him as a son of Abraham.

And then in verse 10, we see a purpose statement that Jesus basically gives of himself.

He says, for the Son of Man, speaking of himself, for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

In the midst of his conversation with Zacchaeus in his home, he says, let me tell you why I'm here.

I'm here because I came to seek and to save you, Zacchaeus.

I'm here because I came to seek and to save those who are lost.

Those who are disconnected from me.

Those who are far from me.

So what purpose do you and I serve?

What is your purpose?

You know, college students, seniors who are graduating as they move through college, they're processing, what am I going to do for a living?

You see, our purpose is not tied to what we're going to do for a living.

We think that it is.

We think our purpose is tied to, if we're married, whether or not we're tied, our purpose is being a husband, being a wife.

We think if we own our own business, we're tied to our purpose being that.

That's who we are.

Our identity is not about what we do or not what brings us income.

Now, a person who doesn't know the Lord, they're going to have those thoughts.

That's just natural.

But when you and I become a believer in Christ, that changes just like it changed for Zacchaeus.

Our purpose then is, God, what is it that you want from me?

So if Jesus says, I came to seek and save the lost, then basically you and I as a follower, because that we are created in the image of God, we therefore seek and save the lost.

Our relationships become more than just friendships.

They become more than just people we casually know.

They become people that we want to have an impact on, people that we want to allow God to use us to meet their needs, whatever those needs may be, because Jesus has redirected our purpose in life.

That's a hard thing to come to understand sometimes, because we do wrap ourselves up on what we do or what others think about us and things like that.

None of that matters.

The only thing that matters is that what Jesus thinks of us and what Jesus desires from us.

Throughout the Bible, God outlines for you and I our purpose in life.

You read from the Old Testament to the New Testament, God is going to speak to you and God is going to show you those things in life that he wants you to do.

Our graduates are leaving one mission field and heading to another.

They're going to be surrounded by lostness as they sit in a classroom, as they go to whatever the main location is on their campus where you go and hang out and get food or whatever.

For me, at Carolina, it was the Russell House, even though I never went there.

I tried not to find my way in the Russell House or the library.

Some of that shows.

But no matter where you go.

But the same is true for you and I.

There's lostness all around us.

Sometimes it's in our own home, our own family member.

Sometimes it's somebody at work where we go every day.

Sometimes it's our neighbor next door or the neighbor down the street.

Sometimes it's the person that we see on a regular basis because of the restaurant we go to or the grocery store that we go to or the gas station we go to.

It's all around us.

And God says, you know, I'm here to seek and save the lost.

And that goes for you as well as a follower of Christ.

So what is our purpose?

It's found in God.

It's found in the things that God shows us throughout his word.

Then in Luke 19, verses 11 through 27, this is the question that pops up as I read that passage of scripture.

What am I doing with what God has given me?

What am I doing with what God has given me?

You see, on their journey, Jesus decided, it's time for a teachable moment here, guys.

On our journey, let's take a time out because I want to share a parable with you.

I want to share a story about what you can recognize in life, but yet it has that spiritual impact.

It has that spiritual truth.

It has that godly message in it.

And so Jesus begins to tell them this story about a noble man who is about to inherit a kingdom.

And this noble man had 10 servants.

And before he was to leave to go handle business, he says to these 10 servants, listen, I want to give you three months wages.

And what I want you to do with this three months wages is I want you to do business with it.

And his hopes is that they'll do business and get more business as a result.

And that's what he leaves them with.

And so he goes on to take care of his personal business and hope that these servants, these would take care of some business and have more for him when he returns.

The story is very similar to the talents that we read about in Matthew.

So this noble man returns and he goes to the first servant and the servant says, yes, I've increased what you've given me.

He goes to the second one and he says, yes, I've increased what you've given me.

Comes to the third one and the third one is scared to death.

Even the very people did not want this noble man to reign over them, to govern them.

They were scared of him.

And so this third servant basically says to him, listen, I'm so scared of you that I took what you gave me.

I wrapped it in a handkerchief and I stored it away.

And of course, that upsets the nobleman and the nobleman takes that three months wages and he gives it away to the others.

What are we going to do?

What are you and I going to do with what God gives us?

Because see, that's the very picture of God's kingdom that he shares there in this passage of scripture.

God is the one that has given you and me gifts and abilities and talents.

And he says, listen, I want you to take these gifts, abilities and talents and I want you to use it for my purposes.

I want you to use it for my glory.

It's there to build one another up.

It's there to make a difference in people's lives.

So take these and use it and make a difference.

That's the biblical application there.

That's the eternal application there in what is being said.

Look with me at verse 11.

But as they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near to Jerusalem because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.

They, the people of God kept expecting his kingdom to be on earth.

Verse 12.

He said, therefore, a nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return.

Calling 10 of his servants, he gave them 10 minus and said to them.

And this is the part that stuck out to me.

Engage in business until I come.

He gives them three months ways and he says to them, engage in business until I come.

He gave them a purpose for what they needed to do with the money that he gave them.

He expected them to carry out that purpose.

You see, when you and I apply that to what God desires for us is this.

You and I are to engage in the business of God.

If God wants you to help a friend out, maybe in their yard, because that's the burden that God has placed or prompted you to do, that's what you're supposed to do.

That's what you're to engage in.

If God has placed a burden on your heart or prompted your heart to give some money to a family that you know is in need, then that's what God intends for you to engage in.

If God has given you the gift of teaching, but yet you're not using it, God says, I want you to engage that by teaching.

If God has given you the ability of finances and God engages you by doing something with those finances, that's what God desires you to do, engage with that.

If God has given you the ability and the gifts to care for other people, to show mercy, God expects you to engage in that.

That's the business of God.

So when you and I read God's word, God speaks to us.

He gives us things.

He tells us what to do.

And just like it says there in verse 13, engage in the business until I come.

What does that mean?

It says on the day that Jesus returns, that God returns, you and I are to be engaged in the business that he desires for us.

Whether you're five or 95, there is one timeline about engaging in the business of God.

It's our death or it's God's return.

That means until we die or God returns, we're engaged in the business of God.

You know, my mindset at 55 years old shouldn't be at the place of, all right, man, when I hit 65, 67 or whenever that, you know, that retiring income kicks in, I'm kicking back.

No, no.

God never said, gave us a time when he's done with us.

Our mindset is as long as we have breath to breathe, we will serve the Lord.

We will be engaged in the business of God.

That's what his desire is for you and I.

So what are we doing with what God has given us?

If you've got the gift of teaching, what are you doing with it?

If you've got the gift of caring, what are you doing?

If you've got the gift of serving, what are you doing?

In a few months, we're going to be asking every one of us, here's opportunities to serve.

Where are you going to serve?

Children's ministry, student ministry, adult ministries, worship ministry.

You know, God gives us gifts in order that you and I can use those gifts in the body of Christ to uplift, to undergird, and to support one another.

God gives us gifts and abilities and talents to get out into our neighborhoods and our workplaces to use that as our mission field.

What are we going to do with those things that God has given us?

Hopefully we want to be like servant one and servant two and not like servant three who wrapped it up.

My mentor, my pastor that I first served under for about 11 years, I remember overhearing him say this.

And my wife and I have talked about this quite often, just different things that he says.

And he said one time, somebody in the church was talking to him and he simply looked at him and said, use it or lose it.

Use it or lose it.

And they were talking about a gift that they knew that God had given them and what they were supposed to do.

And they weren't doing it.

And he said, use it or lose it.

So what happened to servant number three?

He had three months wages.

What did he do with it?

He sat on it, didn't do anything.

What did Jesus do?

Took it away.

That was a parable that he taught.

So our purpose is found in Jesus.

The things that we're supposed to do with what God has given us, God reveals to us and we're to engage in it and do it.

Luke chapter 19, verses 28 through 40.

Here's the third and final question.

What does God need from me today?

What does God need from me today?

What does God need from you today?

What about tomorrow?

What about the next day?

See, Jesus finally gets on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

And all this time, the children of Israel wanted a physical king.

They wanted their own king.

And they knew that Jesus was a messiah.

And their mindset, he was their king.

But they wanted him to be their earthly king.

But he's like, I'm not an earthly king.

I'm not here to take down earthly kingdoms.

That's not what I'm about.

But in this one moment, we see Jesus in this image of being an earthly king.

He knew his purpose.

But in this one moment, we see this.

Because as entering towards Jerusalem, Jesus looks at two of his disciples and said to them,

I need you to go untie a colt and bring it to me.

That's what he says to them.

I need you two to go untie a colt and bring him to me.

But Jesus, what are we to say when we start untying this colt?

And Jesus says, tell them that the Lord is in need of it.

Mission, get the colt.

Answer to a response, the Lord is in need of it.

Pretty simple.

That's what they had to do.

They go.

They go to this house.

They see this colt.

Just as Jesus said, they see the colt tied up.

They untie the colt.

Out comes the owner.

What are y'all doing?

Where are y'all going with my colt?

And they basically say, the Lord is in need of it.

Done deal.

He doesn't chase after them.

He doesn't get a pitchfork, run them out of his yard or wherever the case might be.

None of that.

Doesn't report a theft.

None of that.

You know, Jesus had it all planned out.

Just because it's like it said, when they got there, it was just as Jesus said.

And the owner responded just as Jesus said.

So they take the colt and they take the colt back to Jesus.

They lay their cloaks over the colt.

And Jesus begins to ride right in through the city.

Now, this is the very image of a king that a king would do.

That a king would ride a colt in through the city.

That was the image that we read in the history and that we understand about that time.

And not only that, they're celebrating.

They're worshiping.

They're so ecstatic that Jesus is riding through them.

But on Jesus' mind, he knows what's ahead.

He knows that the cross is ahead.

He knows that his burial is ahead.

He knows that his resurrection is ahead.

And that's what's on his mind and he's following through.

But on that day, he needed two disciples to carry out an important mission for him.

On that day, he needed a man to say yes to his colt being untied.

What is it that Jesus needs from me today, from you?

I honestly believe there are times in our lives, multiple times in our lives, where Jesus needs us to do something for someone.

Also, though, there's times in our lives, where Jesus needs us to do nothing.

Because when God speaks to you and I, it requires a response.

Now, here's the important thing.

What does God need from me today, I think, is one of the hardest questions to answer.

And here's why.

If you don't know God, then the question doesn't apply.

But if you know God, but aren't getting to know God, it only confuses you.

To only know what God wants you to do each and every day or in that moment when God wants you to do something is the fact that you know God.

What do I mean by that?

Well, in John chapter 15, verses 4 through 8, Jesus says this to those who are listening.

In this translation, it uses the word abide.

Meaning remain in other translations.

Abide.

If you and I abide in something, we're close-knit.

We're there.

We are joined together.

That's abiding.

That's remaining.

Jesus says, abide in me and I in you.

That's his promise.

If you and I abide in Christ, in God, his promise is that he will abide in us.

That's his promise.

He doesn't go back on his promises.

As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

The only way that we produce fruits, the only way that we do what God asks us to do, that we meet the needs that are around us,

is because we are in relationship and we are abiding in Christ.

That's the only reason.

I am the vine.

Jesus is saying, I am the vine.

Speaking of himself, you are the branches.

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.

For apart from me, you can do nothing.

So if I'm not abiding in Christ, that stuff's flying over my head.

I'm not going to know when I need to do something for somebody else.

I'm not going to know when I need to have a listening ear for somebody who's hurting.

I'm not going to know when to speak words of wisdom if I'm not listening to God to tell me when to speak words of wisdom and encouragement.

The fact that you and I have to abide in Christ is where it happens.

Verse 6, if anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burn.

If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.

By this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

That's the picture of being on the same page with God.

So if I only abide with God one day of the week, how many times do you think I'm going to hear God when he asks me to do something?

The Lord needs me.

If I'm abiding with God three days out of the week, how many times am I going to really hear God speak?

See, the whole point is that we're constantly connected and a part in our relationship with God so that we can hear him and know him.

And when we read God's word, God's word is not foreign to us.

It's like we're not reading Latin.

For me, it was in a Spanish class in Carolina that I had to drop after the second week saying, I don't know this stuff.

Being in God's word, abiding in God's word means you understand God's word, you know God's word.

And so when challenges and things come your way, you understand how to meet those things.

God's word says that you and I grow in our understanding, we grow in our knowledge, and we grow in our wisdom.

But that only happens being in God's word, abiding in God.

Abiding means I make myself available to God just like those two disciples did, just like the owner of the cult.

Abiding means I am willing to do what God requests, just like they did.

Abiding means I obey God and do what he needs me to do.

So you see, it's being available, it's being willing.

But last and most importantly, it's being obedient.

I guarantee you, as you're in tune with God throughout your day, you will recognize what you need to say, what you need to do, or what you don't need to say, or what you don't need to do.

Because you're listening to the voice of God, because you've been in the word of God.

And you're aware of what God is doing in and around you.

Come this fall, you got to do one of those things that I couldn't ever stand doing, was take a book list and go get books.

Now, that's not as hard as the fact that mom and dad are probably paying for those books, or a portion of those books.

But no matter how many books that we've acquired, either personally reading or ones we were asked to buy because we needed it for, to accomplish a course where we were in a university or wherever the case might be.

All those books that are up in the boxes in my attic that I need to take somewhere and get rid of them because I've not looked at them in 20 years because that's how long they sat in the attic.

Doesn't matter.

Because the only book that really matters in life, when it comes down to life itself and what life requires is God's word.

But too often we leave it in a box in an attic.

Too often we leave it by our bedside, never opened.

We leave it on our bookshelf, collecting dust with all the other books we've never read.

And so we go through life not knowing who God is and not knowing who we are in God.

And to understand our purpose, to understand what God has given us to use those things, to understand what God is asking us in those moments in our life.

The only way we know that is by knowing God's word.

Is it hard to understand?

At times it is.

There's some things in here that's like, I don't care how many times I read it and even pop open a commentary, I'm still scratching my head.

But there's times when I've read something and come back to it years later and going, I didn't see that last time.

That's just how God works.

So the most important thing that students can have when they go off to college is God's word.

Most important thing that your student can have when you send them off to middle school or high school or elementary school is the word of God.

The most important thing that you and I can have when we go to work every day, when we go out and hang with our friends and our buddies, wherever we go, the most important thing that we have in God is God's word.

And the fact that it is implanted in our heart, our mind, and our spirit.

There's a verse in Scripture, in Colossians chapter 1, verses 9 through 12.

It's a prayer.

It's a prayer that I want to read to pray over all of us, but maybe it's more specifically for our students who are about to go off to college.

Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, Paul writes this, verse 9 of Colossians 1.

So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you.

We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord.

And your lives will produce every kind of good fruit.

All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so that you will have all the endurance and patience you need.

May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father.

He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people who live in the light.

God's word is a constant source for your life and for my life each and every day.

It's our responsibility to make sure we're in God's word.

To answer the questions that God always lays before us.

Will you pray with me?

Lord, thank you for your word.

It is rich with the understanding that we need each and every day.

It is rich with the guidance that we need as we go through life, understanding you, understanding ourselves, and understanding the world in which we live.

So, Father, help us just to be on a constant journey of connecting with you through your word.

Lord, allow it to be active and living in our life.

Lord, allow it to allow it to judge the intentions of our heart.

Allow it to help us to discern the thoughts that we have.

So, Lord, our ultimate purpose is to love you and to serve you and be in relationship with you.

So, that you can grow us and mold us and shape us into your image that you desire.

Lord, thank you.

Thank you for your word.

Thank you for what it does in and through our hearts and minds.

We ask this prayer in your name.

Amen.

Amen.

Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.

We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message.

If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources, visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com.

Or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram.