THE MASTER SORTER

(Matthew 13:36-43-NLT)

^"Then, leaving the crowds outside, Jesus went into the house. His disciples said, “Please explain to us the story of the weeds in the field.” Jesus replied, “The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed. The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angels. “Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!"

          Growing up, I had the opportunity of working in several fields (peach orchards, pea fields, pecan orchards, tomato fields and other vegetable patches). I remember so vividly hearing my dad telling us when we had to weed out the garden to be careful not to mistakenly pull the plant up because it looked so much like the weed. It was important that we remove the weeds because they would stunt the growth of the actual plant beside it. In this parable, Jesus shared how it was important that in our sorting that we avoid pulling out the good alongside the not so good.

          When these are bunched or bound together and look alike, we can so easily think the unreal is the real thing. To avoid this, Jesus asked that we let them grow together and in the end he would manage the sorting. In this world, we have all types of people gathering together in the same worship places. Some may be living double-standards, some may be living one-standard according to God's word. Do we pluck them out or throw them out because they have not reached the level of understanding or maturity level as others? Of course I know that there are hypocrites, pretenders and babes in Christ. They are standing near us or among us waiting to be developed and discipled. Let us as true believers not be so quick to sort them out of our "spiritual field." We can't stop weed from growing in a natural garden or field but we can prevent and control how we are growing. Let us allow the MASTER SORTER to do the separating as he sees fit in the end.