"Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn." Matthew 13:24-30.An important truth for God's people. But, what about for us who are working the soil? What have tares to do with us?
What is a tare (weed)? It is something growing that is not wanted in your garden. If you are growing strawberries and a kale plant comes up, it is a weed.
This time of year, farmers are busy killing weeds.....and so am I. We have discussed the blessing of pulling weeds when they are very small. Pulling them up getting root and all.
If we don't then they will come back to haunt us. The longer we put it off, the more difficult the weeding becomes. There is a spiritual lesson there for us.
In this topic I want to move beyond the weeds in the garden proper. I want to talk about the weeds that are not creating a problem for a particular plant you are growing. Is it a concern? If not, maybe it ought to be. Why?
I can best explain by talking about the edge of my property where there is a tree line with bushes growing between the trees. It is nice, a good screen between neighbors. But, we have a problem. There are these weeds growing there. They do not bother my kale, collards, tomatoes, or melons. So, just leave them alone? No. These weeds are poison oak. And, they produce seeds like most plants. They have berries. The berries get moved around and the poison oak garden gets enlarged every year. If you have ever tried to deal with it, you know you don't won't a larger garden of it.
Most farmers understand the issue. They deal with it as soon as they can. That is why Roundup has been such a money maker for Monsanto.
I was looking at the weeds which had grown up in my Euryops. If I don't get them soon, I will certainly pay for it. Each stem has hundreds of little seeds swaying in the wind. I was thinking this morning as I was clipping off their heads, how many plants will grow in my Euryops if I don't get them all!!
So, the parable Jesus gave us is instructive. It is not good to leave anything that is going to grow and produce a like harvest of weeds or sin. Sooner or later we shall pay a price. In the parable we are warned to let the tares grow once they get into the field, but better to keep them out. We do that by getting to the existing weeds before they go to seed. I am running out of time. Those poison oak plants will have mature berries before long.
And, how about the little sins that so easily beset us?