He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?' He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' So the servants said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he said, 'No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"
As I was thinking about tending a garden, the thought came to mind that if I can't pull the weeds lest I also destroy some of the grain, then as I tend the grain, I will also be tending the weeds; both will benefit from my husbandry. Is my Lord and Master telling me not to judge, to be the Kingdom light to all? I think so.
But Lord, how hard it is to serve those who despise You. You cried out, "Father, forgive them because they know not what they do." I must learn to live by the same rubric.
Today's readings in the Psalms:
Morning: Psalm 19
Mid-day: 119:137-144
Evening: Psalm 94
Please address comments to voices@ailbe.org
Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at theFellowship Of Ailbe bookstore. A weekly edition, formatted as a bi-fold insert and suitable for distribution can be downloaded at https://www.ailbe.org/resources/item/7251-2016-voices-together-weekly-format. The next edition is available by Thursday of the prior week.