What is one change you could make to enhance your spiritual life?
“Don’t be so heavenly minded you are no earthly good.”
I remember this line from a sermon my first pastor gave over 20 years ago. It has stuck with me over the years and comes to mind whenever I assess my spiritual life.
While I don’t want to be the spiritual type this quote is speaking about, I also don’t want to be so earthly minded that I am no heavenly good.
Do you find yourself focusing on the bad things around you? Does your mind quickly go to all the things that are wrong? It’s not that you are a negative person, it’s just that there are things that must be fixed before everything can be perfect…right?
It is so easy to see the negative things in life and overlook the good…even in ourselves.
It’s easy to believe this lie:
If we just spent our time correcting the bad, everything will be good.
Let’s turn to Matthew 13. There are many simple truths in the parable of the “Wheat and Weeds” below. And, since Jesus explains the parable after He tells it, it truly needs no further explaination. There is, however, one one statement I want us to look at.
Parable of Wheat & Weeds
24 Jesus told them another parable:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest.
At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ”
Parable Explained
36b His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed are the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
One thing that stands out to me is this:
The man who sowed the good seed (the Son of Man) did not focus on the weeds.
His primary focus was for the wheat to be kept safe until harvest.
In our lives, there is evil. And clearly it would be incorrect to imply that Jesus is saying we should do nothing about the evil in our day. In this specific instance, the man was assessing the risk. He knew it would be worse to endanger the wheat until the right time.
Sometimes it is better to manage the growth of the good than to spend time tearing down evil.
This week, I encourage you to spend time each day looking at the good around you.
God will deal with the evil. For now, He is focusing on you. Take some time to do the same.
Love and blessin’s,
