WATCH FOR THE WEEDS
Jesus told many stories about farming, growing crops and having a harvest. He did this because the people he spoke to lived in an agrarian age where agriculture formed the economy. We live in a different era where technology dominates and the economy is service oriented. To understand some of Jesus’ teachings we need to better understand agriculture.
In Matthew 13: 24-28 it says, “Jesus then told them this story: The kingdom of heaven is like what happened when a farmer scattered good seed in a field. But while everyone was sleeping an enemy came and scattered weed seeds in the field and then left. When the plants came up and began to ripen, the farmer’s servants could see the weeds. The servants came and asked, ‘Sir, didn’t you scatter good seed in your field? Where did these weeds come from?’ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.”
This is the time of year when some will plant vegetables and flowers. But others like me will not. Those who know about gardening or even farming are well aware of how quickly weeds can grow. I learned recently that weeds grow much quicker than the plants. I did not know this and it got me thinking about this story from Jesus.
The enemy of our souls scatters weed seeds. These seeds go by many different names like greed, lust, pride, gossip and many, many more. They grow to look like lack of patience, lack of commitment and lack of generosity. These seeds grow quicker than godly virtues. It takes longer to form spiritual disciplines and habits than sinful ones.
To grow healthy Christ followers and churches requires constant diligence. We must recognize weeds need to be pulled up consistently not occasionally. Every time something sinful starts to take root in our lives we need to root it out. The longer we wait the stronger it will become. And we must remember who is behind this weed planting – the enemy.
To be on the healthy side of growth requires growing the good seed every day. We must focus on growing spiritually. It cannot simply be about Sunday worship it must be a daily commitment. The growth may take longer than the weeds but the result will be much greater and lasting. The goal of all planting is to have a bountiful harvest. If we keep focused on sowing the right seeds and encouraging growth in a variety of ways we will reap a great harvest.
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