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THE WEEDS
He put before
them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to
someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody
was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and
then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then
the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder
came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your
field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An
enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want
us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No, for in gathering
the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both
of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I
will tell the reapers, “Collect the weeds first and bind them in
bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ‘
Then he left
the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached
him saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the
field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son
of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the
children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil
one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is
the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the
weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at
the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and
they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all
evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the
righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their
Father. Let anyone with ears listen!”
Jesus’ parable of the weeds speaks directly
to us about the world we live in. We are born and baptized as
children of God and raised in the belief that he is our Savior
and Messiah, so we grow as the wheat: strong and firm as
Christians. But the devil also plants his “seeds” among us in
order to confuse us, tempt us and draw us away from the glory of
God.
Jesus tells us to be aware of those around
us who sin; they will continue to exist as the “weeds in the
fields” of our lives. He also ensures us that he will deal with
them at the time of the “harvest,” which is the end of time.
That is when the “harvester” angels will gather us as God’s
children and take us to our eternal heavenly home. The
unrepentant will also be gathered and thrown into the depths of
hell.
None of us knows when the harvest will
come. So we must be prepared. We must pray daily, believe
earnestly and be disciples as we bring others to know Jesus.
Only then will we truly know his abundant love and grace, as we
are brought into the place that he has prepared for us to live
with him for all eternity.
Jesus, give us the strength to confront
the “weeds” in our lives and continue to grow strong in our
faith and love for you. Amen
Bob Livingston
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