A TARE-ABLE WAY TO LIVE
In Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus told a story about a man who planted wheat in a field. While he was sleeping, an enemy came along and sowed tares (weeds) in the same field. The man wasn’t aware of his enemy’s scheme until the tares and the wheat began to grow. He could visibly see the difference between the tares and the wheat when they were full grown, but when they were seeds and sprouts, the difference was unrecognizable.
There are several lessons we learn from this parable of Jesus.
1. You and I have an enemy that wants to confuse us about what is fruitful and what is fruitless in our lives. The enemy in the story could have just dug up all the wheat seeds and replanted tares … but he didn’t. God won’t let our enemy fully pluck up our future harvest, but God will allow him to test our perception of what is valuable versus worthless. If we choose the worthless over the valuable, we do not pass the test.
2. When the fruitful and the fruitless are in infancy stages (seeds and sprouts) there’s very little difference in their appearance. It’s not until they’re full-grown that we can actually see the difference. That’s why we’ve got to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s cautions in our lives. He will nudge us and let us know when we have misplaced affection on this world. He’ll speak to our hearts and warn us about the fruit we will produce if we continue nurturing the weeds in our lives. Oftentimes, weeds produce toxic fruit that can be both poisonous and deadly. That's why we've got to get rid of the weeds in our lives.
3. The devil plants tares/weeds in our lives “WHILE WE ARE SLEEPING” … that’s symbolic for the times in our lives when we aren’t paying attention. I'll admit … it can get tiring to have to pay constant attention to our spiritual lives. But honestly, we pay WAY more attention to our physical needs and desires than we do our spiritual needs and desires. And, because we do, we sleep (spiritually) through moments when the enemy is scheming against us. He’s not resting … he’s not observing a “cease-fire” … he’s not drawing up a truce with God’s people. No, he’s hoping we will just fall asleep so he can do his work in our lives while we’re not paying attention. In 2 Corinthians 2:11, Paul says, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” … Is that really true? Do we really understand that one of his schemes is to work in our lives “WHILE WE ARE SLEEPING”? Or, are we ignorant of this scheme. Something to think about today.
1 Thessalonians 5:6
So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober.
In Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus told a story about a man who planted wheat in a field. While he was sleeping, an enemy came along and sowed tares (weeds) in the same field. The man wasn’t aware of his enemy’s scheme until the tares and the wheat began to grow. He could visibly see the difference between the tares and the wheat when they were full grown, but when they were seeds and sprouts, the difference was unrecognizable.
There are several lessons we learn from this parable of Jesus.
1. You and I have an enemy that wants to confuse us about what is fruitful and what is fruitless in our lives. The enemy in the story could have just dug up all the wheat seeds and replanted tares … but he didn’t. God won’t let our enemy fully pluck up our future harvest, but God will allow him to test our perception of what is valuable versus worthless. If we choose the worthless over the valuable, we do not pass the test.
2. When the fruitful and the fruitless are in infancy stages (seeds and sprouts) there’s very little difference in their appearance. It’s not until they’re full-grown that we can actually see the difference. That’s why we’ve got to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s cautions in our lives. He will nudge us and let us know when we have misplaced affection on this world. He’ll speak to our hearts and warn us about the fruit we will produce if we continue nurturing the weeds in our lives. Oftentimes, weeds produce toxic fruit that can be both poisonous and deadly. That's why we've got to get rid of the weeds in our lives.
3. The devil plants tares/weeds in our lives “WHILE WE ARE SLEEPING” … that’s symbolic for the times in our lives when we aren’t paying attention. I'll admit … it can get tiring to have to pay constant attention to our spiritual lives. But honestly, we pay WAY more attention to our physical needs and desires than we do our spiritual needs and desires. And, because we do, we sleep (spiritually) through moments when the enemy is scheming against us. He’s not resting … he’s not observing a “cease-fire” … he’s not drawing up a truce with God’s people. No, he’s hoping we will just fall asleep so he can do his work in our lives while we’re not paying attention. In 2 Corinthians 2:11, Paul says, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” … Is that really true? Do we really understand that one of his schemes is to work in our lives “WHILE WE ARE SLEEPING”? Or, are we ignorant of this scheme. Something to think about today.
1 Thessalonians 5:6
So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober.
A TARE-ABLE WAY TO LIVE
In Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus told a story about a man who planted wheat in a field. While he was sleeping, an enemy came along and sowed tares (weeds) in the same field. The man wasn’t aware of his enemy’s scheme until the tares and the wheat began to grow. He could visibly see the difference between the tares and the wheat when they were full grown, but when they were seeds and sprouts, the difference was unrecognizable.
There are several lessons we learn from this parable of Jesus.
1. You and I have an enemy that wants to confuse us about what is fruitful and what is fruitless in our lives. The enemy in the story could have just dug up all the wheat seeds and replanted tares … but he didn’t. God won’t let our enemy fully pluck up our future harvest, but God will allow him to test our perception of what is valuable versus worthless. If we choose the worthless over the valuable, we do not pass the test.
2. When the fruitful and the fruitless are in infancy stages (seeds and sprouts) there’s very little difference in their appearance. It’s not until they’re full-grown that we can actually see the difference. That’s why we’ve got to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s cautions in our lives. He will nudge us and let us know when we have misplaced affection on this world. He’ll speak to our hearts and warn us about the fruit we will produce if we continue nurturing the weeds in our lives. Oftentimes, weeds produce toxic fruit that can be both poisonous and deadly. That's why we've got to get rid of the weeds in our lives.
3. The devil plants tares/weeds in our lives “WHILE WE ARE SLEEPING” … that’s symbolic for the times in our lives when we aren’t paying attention. I'll admit … it can get tiring to have to pay constant attention to our spiritual lives. But honestly, we pay WAY more attention to our physical needs and desires than we do our spiritual needs and desires. And, because we do, we sleep (spiritually) through moments when the enemy is scheming against us. He’s not resting … he’s not observing a “cease-fire” … he’s not drawing up a truce with God’s people. No, he’s hoping we will just fall asleep so he can do his work in our lives while we’re not paying attention. In 2 Corinthians 2:11, Paul says, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” … Is that really true? Do we really understand that one of his schemes is to work in our lives “WHILE WE ARE SLEEPING”? Or, are we ignorant of this scheme. Something to think about today.
1 Thessalonians 5:6
So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober.
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