Matthew 13:24-43
Be Still: Holy Spirit, quiet my striving. Release me from the pressure to fix myself. Teach me to trust your gentle, patient work in me. Amen.
Read: Matthew 13:24-43
Jesus told them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ 'An enemy did this,’ he replied. 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 uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest.' (vv24-30)
Encounter: While Jesus' parable is about the Day of Judgment when he will separate good from evil, I think there is a personal application which I find deeply freeing.
It is not our job to sort out the wheat and the weeds in our lives.
The servants in the story panic when weeds start growing among the wheat. They want to rush in, and pull them up, But the master says no. Why?
Because in their eagerness, they could accidentally pull up the wheat as well. We can be like those servants. The moment we see something messy in our lives, we feel the pressure to instantly fix it, to pull it up by force.
But Jesus tells us something surprising and liberating: to leave the sorting to him.
From my own plant keeping I've learned that when propagating a plant, especially something delicate, the new roots are fragile, easily damaged. If I notice weeds sprouting in the pot, my instinct is to yank them out immediately. But if I do, I risk disturbing the tender new roots. So, I leave them for a while to let the plant establish. Only once the roots are healthy and firm can I safely remove what doesn’t belong.
God knows where your roots are still fragile. He will always be patient, gentle, for he knows how to protect the good, and when to deal with the bad.
The presence of weeds does not mean the absence of God.
It means he is still working, and he will deal with what you cannot.
As to the cosmic Day of Judgment this parable describes – we must leave the great 'sorting' and 'rooting out' to his just and merciful hands.
Apply: Where do you feel pressure to fix yourself?
Ask Jesus today: What do you want me to stop trying to fix, and simply surrender to you?
Devote: Jesus, thank you that you are the Gardener of my soul. You know what wheat is and what is weed. You know what must grow and what you in good time you will remove. Do in me what only you can do.