SUNDAY, MAY 21
Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30

Matthew 13:24-30 says, “Another parable He put forth to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who 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 grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?” He said to them, “An enemy has done this.” The servants said to him, “Do you want us then to go and gather them up?” But he said, “No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’” This is Matthew’s version of the parable of the sower who sows the Word. But here we have the introduction of something we do not find in Mark. Here, an enemy sows tares and the tares grow up. The question is, do we take the tares out? We cannot, lest we uproot the wheat also. We have to let the tares and the wheat grow together until the right time. Just because we see a tare does not mean we uproot it. We have to wait until we get a full growth for the harvest. That means the church has to grow to the place where we are fully ready for the harvest. Is the church ready to deal with tares? Is the church ready to execute judgment on tares? It is not, but we have time to grow into that place. We need to take this time and start growing into that place. God allotted time and space to grow, so let’s apply ourselves and purpose to grow!