The Crops v. the Weeds
admin July 20th, 2008
I have found myself growing more and more anxious about events in the world. It seems we are under seige from a variety of fronts – cultural, economic, domestic, international.
So, I’ve been praying for a sense of security, a hint of optimism. And God sent such a thought to me the other day as I was contemplating the half-million teenagers and young adults at World Youth Day in Australia.
Our optimism and our security needs to come from knowing that God is going to win when all is said and done. Things may get down right ugly but God is in a no-lose position.
The question for us is: which team are we going to be on?
Today’s gospel (Matthew 13) presents a perfect parable to answer this question.
The parable is about weeds being sown amidst a crop by the enemies of the farmer in the story. In the end, the weeds are harvested with the crop; the crop stays fruitful and the weeds are burned.
If you are reading this blog, you are probably endeavoring to be one of the crops. And you are probably faced with weeds in your life in those people who are trying to pull you away (either deliberately or not) from God’s will for you. They are the naysayers, relativists, and no-gooders who influence our lives. And there are also those who mean us outright harm.
So, if we are endeavoring to be the crops (i.e. be on God’s team), what are we doing to stay on this team? What are we doing to pull other people onto this, the winning team? Are we living our lives and presenting a good example so others want to wear our team colors?
In the end, it’s up to each of us to want to be on this team; to decide to be on this team. And then to follow-through with our actions. The youth of the world who have been Australia over the past week get this simple truth. It’s up to us to follow their lead.
Crops or weeds? It’s up to us, each and every day. And it helps us knowing that only one team can win in the end, and that is God’s team.
- Church , Culture , Faith , Liturgy , Role Models , The Battle
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