God can be our light and our salvation. If we seek God’s face, we will experience his grace.

The important thing is: are you investing what you DO have? The knowledge you've been given, the time, the money, the energy. Yes, we absolutely should be ambitious for the Lord, we should want to take great risks on his behalf, but don’t break yourself on the wheel of what he hasn’t given you.

Persevering in prayer is fueled by God’s secure promises.

These parables Jesus tells are first and foremost about the kingdom of HEAVEN. And he has been saying, the kingdom of heaven has arrived. It’s here now. And Jesus says, you can enter it. All of you. Anyone who comes to Him can enter it freely because of Him, and what He's done.

So, what is the spiritual meaning of what he is asking here about a lamp? He is making it clear that Jesus did not come to hide his identity. And what does light do? It illuminates, it reveals, it exposes and Jesus has come to do the same, to illuminate truth, to reveal himself, and to shine his light into the darkness.

This morning we come to a parable that is only one sentence, only 28 words in our English translations. But although the parable is tiny, it packs an enormous punch. Which is exactly what the parable is about. It’s about how an invisible thing can change the world.

It's about whether or not the blessings we enjoy bring about the fruit that God seeks.

Let’s consider three questions from this passage. Firstly, how often should you forgive? Second, how much have YOU been forgiven? Third, how is it possible to forgive?

One of the ways we remember the gospel is in our prayers. We can appropriate the truths of the gospel as we cry out to the Lord for help and hope. Doing so helps us set our minds on what is true. It reshapes our emotions. And it draws us closer to the Lord as we respond in joy and Thanksgiving for all that he has done and will do.

The only way to live wisely in this life is to shrewdly use whatever we have now in light of the brevity of earthly life and the reality of eternity.