The Weeds

Jesus tells us a parable about the weeds and the wheat in Matthew 13. See the farmer had planted a beautiful crop of wheat in his field and then was sabotaged by an enemy that snuck into his field in the middle of the night and planted weeds. The farmer knew he could not pull the weeds out while the wheat was still growing as it would destroy the roots of the good seeds.

Sometimes you just have to wait for the growing season to end.

What I love about this parable is the weeds were not a consequence of the farmer doing anything wrong. It was literally an enemy that tried to come in and destroy the hard work. Similarly, we too have an enemy that is always looking for ways to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10).

Jesus went on to explain the meaning of this parable to his disciples. Jesus said He was the farmer and the world was the field. He has planted good seeds (His followers) in the field but the enemy (Satan) has planted the weeds in the field as well. The sorting between the wheat and the weeds won't happen until the end, but those who are weeds will be burned in the pit of hell and the wheat will be shining like the sun in God's kingdom.

I don"t know about the weeds in your field, but the ones in my yard are big. They are spiky and don't want to go quietly. I have to battle them each spring and often it seems like they are winning. No matter how soon I get them removed, the wind still blows. I would have to clear all the weeds in a couple mile radius in order to avoid having new weeds show up each year. I can't stop the wind, and I can't stop the weeds from growing.

I think thats just how life is. We will have weeds growing up around our crop and we just have to wait it out. Jesus tells us that we are going to have weeds- those troubles that just seem to wrap around all the good things in your life. But the important part is not losing heart, not giving up our hope (John 16:33). In the end, everything is going to be sorted out and the good crops will end up in the barn. We can't lose the eternal perspective during the growing season, because it's not over yet.