Daily Affirmations - Day 6 - The True Vine - Weeds (Tares) Among the Wheat
Day 6: Weeds (tares) among the wheat
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 (tares) among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared” (Matthew 13:24-26).
We are taught by the parable of the tares and wheat, that there will always be a mixture in this world of good and bad people, which no care or diligence can prevent. In every place, in every society there will be a mixture.
Whatever... care and diligence may be taken to purge and keep out the wicked— the enemy will find an opportunity to sow his tares... The Lord, for the wisest reasons, permits the tares and the wheat to grow together until the harvest.
The tares and the wheat are sown in the same soil; the same rain and the same sun cause both to grow and to ripen. The same soil, the same sun, and the same rain, may nourish an unfruitful prickly thorn, as the most fruitful tree.
It is the nature of grace to grow... The tares also grow. The wicked... may enjoy the same means of grace... the same outward privileges with the righteous— and yet they are ripening only for destruction.
We are taught how vigilant... the enemy is, to do harm. He sowed the tares "while they slept"... Sleep they must, nature requires it; but then it was that the enemy did the mischief... If you only step aside, he is ready to take his opportunity to sow his tares.
What toil, what labor, what care and diligence it costs to produce good in the human heart! Without toil, labor, and cost it will naturally produce bad seed.
And when wheat is sown there by the heavenly gardener, what watchfulness is required to prevent its being injured! Our eye must be continually upon it, and the most diligent care must be exercised. But the tares will grow without any care...
May this teach us to be more watchful, to prevent, if possible, the enemy from sowing his evil seed. If that is not possible, let us endeavor to distinguish between the wheat and the tares, that we may not be mistaken, and think that we have a good crop of wheat— when more than half of it is only tares, which are unprofitable, and will in the end be burned.
~ Thomas Charles, The Tares and the Wheat (Slightly Edited)
All the world is God’s own field,
Fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown,
Unto joy or sorrow grown;
First the blade, and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear:
Lord of harvest, grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be.
For the Lord our God shall come,
And shall take His harvest home;
From His field shall in that day
All offenses purge away;
Give His angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast;
But the fruitful ears to store
In His garner evermore.
~ Henry Alford, pub. 1844
Comments