#98: Timely Warning

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

We are all familiar with the parable of tares that Jesus told to illustrate the kingdom of God. A very intriguing parable and it serves as a warning to every believer on why we have to be careful in the moments we live in.

Scriptures say that while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares. This shows us how strategic the enemy is. He is always roaming round looking for his next prey, and he will strike when men are not on guard. He will strike while men sleep. Through out history there are many victories and several sieges that were successful because the men trusted to guard the city slept off and the enemy came and plundered without a fight. Jude admonishes us to contend earnestly for the faith instead of being careless even as to sleeping on duty (Jude vs 3).

Before we go on, note carefully that the kingdom of heavenly was initially planned to be a man sowing good seeds. That's how it started. Pure, undiluted, holy and divine. Looking at the state of the church today, a lot of damages have been done in the congregation because the overseers slept. The enemy has crept into the fold and sown tares.

While we can keep on lamenting over this over and over again, while we can keep pointing fingers at who is to blame for the enemy creeping in unnoticed, the truth is that the damage has been done already (to an extent we all played a part in this - the last time you were not on your watch post, do you know what you gave room for in your home, place of work, church, school etc). The enemy has sown tares and gone his way. Now there is a more weighty issue at hand; the damage can only be seen when the blades begin to spring up. We will feel we are one big family in the church till a major crisis comes up and you will begin to see tares that all along we thought were good grains.

As if that is not the worst part of the problem at hand is that when we go to God in prayers and uproar, heaven is saying: let the wheat and the tares grow together till harvest, any attempt to remove the tares will require looking some of the wheat also. God has never intended to destroy the righteous with the wicked (Gen 18:23-32). It would have been easy if the field was full of tares, but the presence of wheat poses a problem; so the two must grow together till harvest.

This is the crux of the issue today that God is bringing to our notice. Evil will continue to abound and probably propagate (getting worse from generation to generation) till the harvest...till the second coming of Jesus and white throne judgement. That is how the errors of sleeping men that were supposedly posted as watchmen makes the kingdom of heaven to be like here on earth. This why we must be on the guard, fully kitted with Christ's amour, growing side by side with tares and ensuring daily competition for sunlight, water, nutrients does not take a toll on you. May God send strength and wisdom to us. Amen.