God is Patient

“The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field.” Matthew 13:24

The disciples asked Jesus to explain to them the parable of the good seed and the weeds in the field. While the man was sleeping, an enemy sowed weeds among the wheat. The man told his servants to allow the weeds to grow with the wheat, but during harvest time, they are to be gathered and burned. In this parable, Jesus identifies this weed as Zizania (Greek). This type of weed, known as Darnel, grows in Palestine and resembles wheat, except that it is poisonous. It is almost impossible to tell the two apart except at harvest time. Wheat has brown grain and Zizania has black grain.

Is it not that when there is a news story about a man or woman who starts shooting people, or who holds someone hostage, or brings a plane down, there are always relatives or neighbors who say, "He was a good man/ woman, a good neighbor/ classmate/ co-worker. I would never think he/she would do that!! No indication at all!" 

It is only when wheat and the Zizania "bear fruit" that we can identify which is which. In the same way, it is only with our fruit that we know if we are children of God or children of the enemy. The enemy continues to sow bad weeds among us, people who bring confusion, anger, division, hatred of God and man, persecution, etc. into the world.

The way the parable ends, the man who sowed good seed said, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.” What this parable makes certain is there is hell, a place for the weeds, and it seems futile to say that God is too good to allow people to burn in it. God is patient and always gives ample time for people to realize their sin and turn back to Him. More importantly, we need to reflect on what kind of fruit are we bearing?