The working of Jesus in his time and now

There are so many references in the New Testament on how Jesus went about teaching and performing miracles and especially how he went about doing them. But there is an important element that people tend to overlook when they read the parables spoken through Jesus. He tends to often make them seem difficult and hard to understand and yet challenges people to grasp the meaning of his words. In the Gospel of Mark chapter 4 in verses 22-25 Jesus gives an interesting conclusion to a parable he gave about a lamp under a basket. He says in the following: "For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. If anyone has hears to hear, let him hear." And he said to them, " Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away." Jesus nearly made it seem as if he wasn't going to make it too difficult to understand but not too easy for one to take advantage of him with what he was preaching. If a spiritual person wishes to understand the things of God relevant first and foremost to Scripture, philosophy, history, or science, then he is called to do some mental work and through the work God acknowledges the man's efforts to know Him and will respond by revealing more of Himself gradually over time. As one friend put it: " God is all about give and take." Sometimes God will just "give" us something from the Scriptures. But most often He chooses to see if we genuinely desire to know him in that capacity. How much do we really believe? Our actions confirm our genuine beliefs. If we really believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will show us more of Himself through the Word of God day by day then we ought to be in it constantly. Otherwise, why should Christ take us seriously? That is nearly as bizarre as a friend named John telling me that he would like to get to know and become better friends yet he hardly ever calls and only talks to me whenever I see him. But this is something I myself have failed sadly too many times. I would always pray and want to hear the voice of the Almighty and be in His presence and yet when the opportunity would arise for me to pursue such a journey, I would bail out. May God forgive me for my inconsistency and for His empowerment for my life and that I would take advantage of the things He has left here for me.