GOSPEL READING:
Matthew 13:24-3024 Another parable he put before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the householder came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?' 28 He said to them, `An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, `Then do you want us to go and gather them?' 29 But he said, `No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 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.'"
Meditation: What can malicious weed-sowing tell us about
the kingdom of God? The image Jesus uses here is a common everyday
example of planting, harvesting, and sorting the good fruit from
the bad. Weeds can spoil and even kill a good harvest if they are
not separated and destroyed at the proper time. Uprooting them too
early, though, can destroy the good plants in the process.
Guard God's implanted word in your heart
Just as nature teaches us patience, so God's patience also teaches
us to guard the word which he has planted in our hearts and to
beware of the destructive force of sin and deception which can
destroy it. God's word brings life, but Satan, the father of lies,
seeks to destroy the good seed which God plants in the hearts of
those who listen to his word.
God's judgment is not hasty, but it does come. And in the end,
God will reward each person according to what he or she has sown
and reaped in this life. In that day God will separate the evil
from the good. Do you allow God's word to take deep root in your
heart?
Lord Jesus, may your word take deep root in my heart and may I bear good fruit for your glory. May I hunger for your righteousness now that I may also look forward to the day of judgment with joy rather than with dismay.
Psalm 50:1-5, 23
1 The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.
3 Our God comes, he does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, round about him a mighty tempest.
4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High;
15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me."
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: The Lord sows good seeds in our heart, by Chromatius (died 406 AD)
"The Lord clearly points out that he is the sower of good seeds.
He does not cease to sow in this world as in a field. God's word
is like good seed in the hearts of people, so that each of us
according to the seeds sown in us by God may bear spiritual and
heavenly fruit." (excerpt from TRACTATE ON
MATTHEW 51.1)
[Note: Chromatius was an early Christian scholar
and bishop of Aquileia, Italy. He was a close friend of John
Chrysostom and Jerome. He died in 406 AD. Jerome described him as a "most learned and most holy
man."]
