Day #2387

July 14, 2020 

Tuesday’s Thoughts on Scripture this week comes from Matthew 13:24: [Jesus] put before [the crowds] another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field. (NRSV)

Now, who would not sow good seed?! I occasionally receive a packet of seeds from an organization that sends them as a fundraiser. They are supposed to be a mixture of flower seeds, but who can tell what they really are just by looking at them? Some seeds are long and narrow, some round and puffy, some tiny, some larger. And the flowers (or vegetables or trees or whatever) that grow from them look absolutely nothing like the seed, and sometimes nothing like what is on the package, either. :-)

But in the rest of the parable that Jesus tells in this chapter, an enemy came and planted weeds among the good seed. Well, let’s just get rid of those pesky weeds right away, or at least as soon as we can tell what they really are, declares the ones who planted the good seed. However, the master says no, let them all grow together until the final time of harvest. Then the master (who, for the children of the kingdom, is God) will make the determination, and decide the fate, of which is weed and which is grain.

Yet, I still wonder why an enemy was allowed to create such havoc?! And why the “good seed” has to be in with the weeds, suffering along because the weeds take nutrients and moisture away from the good seed? 

Wait...what about the times I do that? What about the times I am more concerned about my own needs than someone else’s? What about my sin?! So, am I a good seed or a weed?! 

In God’s wisdom and grace, God gives time for the seeds, and the children, to grow into what they are called to be - children of God. God gives us time and has patience. I am certainly thankful for God’s abundance of those two gifts, especially since mine is often lacking. 

I trust you, O God, to be the divine determiner and judge. And I pray you help me when my trust falters!

Blessings. And prayers.