What a beautiful day, Father! Sunshine in abundance is most welcome!
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 (<<click the green)
Some people like gardening and can spend hours tending their flower beds. They are familiar with each plant that comes up in their beds. As spring moves along, some plant’s arrivals are eagerly anticipated. Karen transplanted a hyacinth last year from a planter and was hoping it would make it through the winter to grow and bloom again. (I just peeked outside and it is coming back up!)
A not so fun part of gardening is weeding! Growing up weeding our vegetable garden wasn’t always fun but it was necessary. When vegetable plants first start to come up it can be difficult to tell the difference between them and weeds. You have to know which is which or have someone close by to help you out.
Lord, in Your Parable of the Wheat and Weeds, the workers in the fields ask if the weeds should be pulled up and the farmer tells them not to, for it will damage the wheat in the process. He goes on to say that when the crop is gathered in that the harvesters will separate the good from the bad.
So…what does mean to me? It’s a nice story but is it applicable to my life? Definitely! My study Bible shines a clear light on it.
“There are true and false believers in churches today, but we should be cautious in our judgments because only Christ is qualified to make the final separation. If [we] start judging, [we] may damage some of the good “plants.” It’s more important to judge our own response to God than to analyze others’ responses.”
We are inexperienced “gardeners” and if we start going at it pulling out what we think is detrimental to God’s kingdom, a lot of damage can be done. The Creator of the Garden knows best. We need not worry – evil will be judged and the good will prevail! Lord, help me to keep tabs on myself – You’ll take care of the rest.
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Apr 26th, 2018, Thurs, 2:16 pm
