Weeding, Yes or No?
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
Remedy for a Hard Heart
This morning started very early for me, Father, but I am so, so grateful knowing that You are with me every moment. I am at peace and feel secure. There is no place I would rather be. Thank You, Father.
Matthew 13:1-23 (<<click the green)
One thing that I have read many times over is that we are not to read too much into the parables that You taught, Lord. I wholeheartedly agree that we should be very cautious about making them say what we want them to say but I also very strongly believe that Your word is not stagnant. It is living and applicable in all of our lives regardless of where or when we live.
As I read through Your Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed, then Your interaction with Your disciples and finally Your explanation of the parable it gives me a feeling of sadness…hopelessness…
But I know You, Lord. I know You love us and do everything possible to bring us to You. I am so grateful that all of us get multiple exposures to the “seed” of Your Gospel. No one is beyond Your touch. No matter where we try to hide, You know exactly where to find us
Psalm 139 communicates this beautifully – here’s a portion of it,
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
Lord, I pray that Your patient reaching – Your proactive love – for those who don’t know You…yet…will accomplish its goal of softening hard hearts. It may take time…but even a rolling stream can cut through rock over time. Draw all humanity to You, may we yield ourselves to Your mercy and grace. Amen.
Apr 25th, 2018, Wed, 11:53 am
I Am a Farmer
May I hear Your still small voice, this morning, Father, as I sit here quietly at Your feet. Amen.
Matthew 13:1-23 (<<click the green)
Lord Jesus, I love a good story and You so eloquently used them over and over again to share gems of truth from Your Kingdom. They were not always “in your face” obvious truths but for the soul ready and willing to dig, they could be unearthed and their reward would be found.
And there is the point that we need to grasp hold of, Lord. After You share the story here, You make it very clear that there are “secrets” or “mysteries” to be discovered and that some will “listen” and find them while others, because they “are not listening”, will not discover them. It is not that You are picking and choosing who will and who will not hear Your truths, it is a matter of who is receptive. Some who hear aren’t listening.
As a matter of fact, that’s what this particular parable is all about. The “farmer” is spreading the “seed” which is the Good News of Your salvation – that is, the Gospel. When You lived here amongst us, seed was broadcast – a handful of grain would be taken from a sack around the neck and would be thrown by the sower onto the field. Some seed would inevitably fall on to the path, and onto shallow areas, and onto areas where thorns would come up, as well. But some would fall onto soil that was receptive and that seed would take root and yield a crop – sometimes abundant and sometimes not so much so.
I am a “farmer” – in fact, all those intent on spreading the “seed” are “farmers.” We spread the “seed” but we cannot determine what kind of soil it will fall upon – to what extent those listening are actually listening. Nor can we determine how much the “seed” we spread will yield – You and the Holy Spirit determine that. My responsibility is to be the “farmer” and spread the “seed.” May I be diligent spreading as much of it as far and wide as possible. Amen!
Apr 25th, 2018, Wed, 5:00 am
Extended Family
Father, my praise goes up to You this morning for being the God of the great and the small. Daily You do mighty things – Your creation alone reflects Your majesty! But in comparison to Your awesome works, You care about me and the little things that impact me –to You I am just as important and You take time for me…to love and care for me. Thank, You Father…
Matthew 12:46-50 (<<click the green)
Family…“Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” is what You said, Lord. Some may take offense that You were in some way slighting Your earthly family. But in no way were You doing so. You loved them and cared for them. My study Bible* points out the importance of family to You. In Matthew 15:1-9 You chastise the religious leaders of Your day “for not following the Old Testament command to honor their parents.” John 19:24-27 tells us that even in the midst of suffering on the cross You thought of Your “mother’s security”. And Acts 1:14 tells us that they believed in You, as well, when Your mother and brothers joined with the others in the “upper room at Pentecost.”
No, You weren’t slighting Your family, You were expanding it! One of the wonderful aspects of accepting You as my Savior, Lord, is the fact that in addition to Your never-ending presence in my life, I now have an extended family upon which to lean! I have brothers and sisters of the faith across the globe, as well as, in my own community. You have made it so that we have each other, to grow with and learn with and pray with and stand with and to encourage. Literally millions of fellow believers are now part of my family! What a blessing! What a privilege! And someday what a glorious reunion there will be! All praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ!
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Apr 24th, 2018, Tues, 5;21 am
Keeping a Clean House
First thing, Father, I so want to express my appreciation for Your being “an ever present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) You show Your love and care even in the midst of things that others might deem small and insignificant. All praise to You, my loving Shepherd!
Matthew 12:43-45 (<<click here)
I’ve mentioned before that I really enjoy bird watching. In the last couple of years, our feeders have attracted bluebirds, which are absolutely stunning! Now we haven’t set up any birdhouses for them but they have found a home somewhere in our area for we’ve had at least two pairs of them around this winter.
One thing about setting up bluebird houses is that it’s hard to keep them empty for bluebirds – house sparrows like them, too. Now house sparrows are not native to the Americas but were introduced in the 1850’s to control the ravages of the linden moth. (Who knew?) Those who maintain bluebird houses have to regularly check them to remove sparrow nests.
In today’s passage, Lord, You speak of keeping our “homes” clean. When we come in to contact with You, our “homes” are “empty, swept, and in order.” But we must be diligent in filling them with You. If we are not diligent things that are not “native” to our “homes”, things that our “homes” were not created for, will attempt to move in. And where we may have been bad off before Your arrival, we may very well be “worse off” in that entities in opposition to You will be that much more determined to make sure that we avoid any future encounters with You. The devil and his cohorts want us to suffer with them for their “doom is sure” (to quote Martin Luther’s A Mighty Fortress).
Lord Jesus, fill every part of me with You – every nook and cranny! May there be absolutely no place that the devil can get a foothold. May I be so full of You that in my daily journeys that You actually spill out, dousing those around me. Soak them through! May it be so – Amen!
Apr 21st, 2018, Sat, 6:11 am