December 20th

The Wheat and the Tares

           He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.  So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.  And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’  He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’  But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

Matthew 13:24-30

            A few verses later, Jesus goes on to explain His parable.  There are children of God living on this earth.  There are children of Satan living on this earth.  In order to save as many of His own children as He can, God allows them to live out their lives together and then will separate them in the final days.

            You know what is interesting?  When you first plant seeds and when they begin to grow, you cannot tell them apart.  They need to be given time to grow and develop and mature in order to see which plant is the weed and which plant is the wheat.  Having worked with youth for a couple of decades, I can attest that this is true.

            Young people have plenty of indicators about what direction their lives are going to take.  Are their parents together or divorced?  Where are they in the birth order?  What kind of personality type are they?  Their interests, passions and areas of study tend to be secondary, except to reveal what kind of people they will be spending their time with.  What kind of traumas have they experienced?  All those questions form a fairly clear picture that explains their actions.  Predicting their future, however, is nearly impossible for one simple reason: Jesus.

            I can look around a youth group and spend time with young people and have a pretty good idea of who is going to be a teen mom, who is dropping out of school, and who is going to be attracted to abusive relationships if Jesus does not get a hold of their hearts.  The signs are usually there.  However, if they meet Jesus, all bets are off.  God calls people into incredible things.  He pairs them with unexpected spouses.  He brings them into unforeseen places and gifts them with new passions.  He transforms hearts and heals traumas and changes the trajectory of lives over and over and over again.  God recognizes the wheat long before any of the rest of us do.

            What does that mean for our kids?  They are destined for a life of isolation and government assistance and janitorial jobs and bitterness.  I have met and worked with many young men and women who fit that description.  They are destined for that life unless God intervenes and gets a hold of their lives.  If that happens, all bets are off.  That is what allows joy-filled hearts.  That is what allows miraculous jobs and connections.  That is what allows real relationships and community.  That is what allows the marginalized to become the catalyst for change.  Jesus transforms lives and it is remarkable to behold.

            The world has said that our kids are weeds that drain valuable resources from the wheat.  God shakes His head and smiles and says, “Let them grow together and you will see which ones are Children of the King.”

           

A moment to reflect:

How has God transformed your life?