via TJC
Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” -Matthew 13:30 ESV
Catcher in the Rye was the most impactful book I read in high school English class. I identified strongly with Holden Caulfield and his obsession with “phonies”. As a teenager growing up I saw phonies all around me…adults and peers who spoke out both sides of their mouth, and who didn’t back up their words with actions. It was hard to see the value of actually being good, when so many who weren’t good were getting the same benefits. This affected my faith in a good God as well. I asked, “God if you are so good, why are there so many ‘phonies’ that get blessings and not punishment?”
It would be some time until I understood the Kingdom of Heaven with maturity. I was so absorbed with the appearances of injustice in the short term that I couldn’t see God’s design. The parable of the weeds shows that we are intended to grow up in the midst of “weeds” while we are still growing in faith. It also provides assurance that in the final reaping, justice will be done to the “phonies.” The sorting of the wheat from the weeds is a hard truth for some today, probably because it doesn’t sound very “nice”. But I ask you to consider, would God be good if he didn’t separate the good from the evil? The Kingdom of Heaven, a kingdom of our holy God’s stature, must distinguish good from evil. As Kingdom men, we know not to fear the reaping because we have been purchased for redemption with the blood of Jesus. The question becomes: What do we do until then?
Daily Battle Order:
Read - Matthew 13:24-30
Consider and Pray - God intended for you to grow up as wheat among weeds. Is your stature being challenged by theirs? Or is their stature being challenged by yours?
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