Saturday 27th July,
2019. Bible Study: Exodus 24:3-8, Psalm 50, Matthew 13:24-30
_“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...’” *(Matthew 13:28-30)*_
There is the story of a
farmer who found an eagle’s egg and placed it among the chicken’s newly laid
eggs. Eventually, the little eagle developed in the midst of the chicks not
knowing it was different. One day, the eagle looked up at the sky and saw the giant
Eagle soaring above and he said to its fellow chicks: “how I wish I can go up
there” but in response, they said: “no, you can’t, you are not meant to fly.”
Dear friends, the constant
challenge before us Christians is being able to realize our true potentials as
wheat and distinguish ourselves from the weeds. It is not everyone who goes to
the church that deserves the name “Christian.” And just as the wheat and the
weeds look familiar, it is not so easy to distinguish between the genuine
Christian from the nominal Christian.
It is not what we profess
with our lips that matter but what we believe in our hearts. You are not what
you say you are, you are not what you think you are, you are what you do!
Actions speak louder than words, actions define our true character. This is the
point Jeremiah clearly emphasizes in today’s first reading.
In those days, there were
many persons who felt secure based on the fact that the temple was standing.
They felt confident that with God’s temple, they are safe just like there are
many Christians today who base their security on mere church membership.
Jeremiah warns:
“Will you steal, murder,
commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and go after other gods
that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which
is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’ -- only to go on doing all
these abominations?” Jeremiah 7:9-10.
Never base your relationship
with God on human standards. Do not say, “so and so is doing it and they come to
church, why shouldn’t I also do it.” Do not be like the eaglet accidentally
placed in the midst of little chicks and grows up to believe it cannot rise
above their level. Be careful about who you follow on the mere basis of ‘my
church member, my church member’, you can never really tell the wheat from
weeds.
Another lesson we must learn
from this parable, as well as the parable of the sower, is that in the body of
Christ, people are not all the same. It is very wrong to just use one blanket
to cover everyone. It is very wrong to call everyone in the church a weed just
because all those you have met so far are weeds. Just as some are seeds among
thorns, some are seeds on rocky ground, some are seeds on very good soil. And
even among those on good soil, their outputs are different; some produce
hundred, others sixty and some others thirty.
By the way, what is the
basis for judging whether one is a weed or wheat? Isn’t it the case that we
are sometimes weed and sometimes wheat? Within us lies the power to either be
true Christians or to be such as Jeremiah describes above. We have two
elephants fighting seriously inside of us constantly and the one that wins is
the one we feed.
Happy weekend, please as you
rest today, find a few minutes to do a short act of meditation. Try to do a
mental review of every activity you did throughout this week. Find out areas
where you failed God and areas where you were actually wheat. Right them
down. If possible, go for confession. Set new spiritual goals for yourself and come
back next week to check your list. Be wheat, never assume you can never rise
above the weeds you see all around.
Let us Pray: Lord Jesus,
make me realize my security is not based on church or denomination but on
sincere worship. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith.
It is well with you. God bless you. (Saturday of the 16th week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: Exodus
24:3-8, Psalm 50, Matthew 13:24-30).
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