The Wheat and the Weeds

The servants asked him, "Do you want us to go and pull them up?" "No," he answered, "because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn." Matthew 13:28b, 29, 30. (NIV)

Many times I have wondered why the evil people seem to out-number those that try to be obedient to God's laws. There is always a lot of news about crime and murder, immorality and fraud every day on the television and in the newspapers. If the acts of violence are particularly heinous, they will take front page space. Good news is seldom front page spread. Most of the time it is usually toward the middle or in the back pages of the newspapers, and the last news release of the hour on television.

I was so distraught with my garden and the oppressive heat this year. Although it yielded a moderate amount of produce, it abounded with weeds and tall crab grass. The extreme high temperatures kept me inside so the weeds overtook the vegetables in the garden. The heat and lack of sufficient rain put the vegetables in stress, so they wilted, but the weeds seemed to flourish. Christians also feel stressed when surrounded by crime and debauchery that seem to multiply daily.

Jesus compared the evil to the "weeds" growing in the wheat field and the good people to the "wheat" that is gathered into His barn (heaven).

Dear Father, protect us in this world until time for the final harvest. Amen

(c) 2013 Evelyn B. Ryan