JESUS SPEAKING

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servant of the owner came and said to him, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”‘” (Matthew 13: 24 – 30)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

A tare is an inedible weed that resembles wheat during the early stages of growth. In this parable the field represents the Church. The man who sowed good seed is God. His enemy is Satan, who spread the tares among the wheat. The roots of the fruitful and unfruitful plants had grown together; making it difficult to uproot one without damaging the other. And thus, God permits the faithful and the unfaithful to remain together in the Church. However, when the harvest arrives, which represents God’s eternal judgement, He will separate the wheat from the tares. And those masquerading as Christians will be cast into hell, while genuine believers will enter God’s everlasting kingdom.

Many today, and throughout history, have fallen victim to a devastating belief; mainly ‘that everyone claiming to be a Christian represents Christ.’ Much to Satan’s delight, the Church is infested with false believers. Some spiritually immature souls have permitted the poor behavior of others to push them away from Christianity. Perhaps they were hurt by a pastor, a church leader, a deacon, an elder, or just another professing believer. According to scripture, we should expect hypocrisy and deception from many within the Church. Thank goodness our faith does not reside in the hands of anyone but Jesus Christ.

As in every generation, the enemies of God have sought to muddy the waters. To confuse individuals about what it means to be a Christian. Today, there are many unbelievers among the faithful. Although they blend in, their hearts are far from the Lord, and they cause division and harm to those who are unaware of their presence. May we use the Spirit of Truth to recognize and differentiate between the faithful and the faithless.

“Lord Heavenly Father, may we live our lives as genuine Christians, faithfully representing Your Son in all that we say and do. May we find other faithful believers, through whom we might be strengthened, to accomplish Your purposes. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit and give us a desire to spread the gospel throughout the world. We love You, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things, according to Your will, in Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.” God bless all of you!