I recently started a new job at the local Wal-Mart working in receiving. It’s a tough shift from 4pm to 1am. This isn’t my normal work hours I would usually choose, but it’s an opportunity that came up. Well after a few days working there, I realized that it has taken a toll on my devotional times with God. I’ve had to really fight for time, and coordinate and prioritize. This started to affect my ability to “fill up” in Him as well as post to this site. So all this being said, I started to gripe and get aggravated a bit. I remember coming home after work last Thursday night, tired and disgusted with some of the worldly chatter going on around me with fellow co-workers, that I was determined to spend time with God. After some brief worship and time setting my affection on Him, He began to speak to me regarding some things that really challenged me and my walk. Now when I refer to my “walk”, it’s referring to more than just my walk with Him. It also is referring to my walk in this world. I was taken to a familiar passage in scripture regarding the parable of the wheat and the weeds (or sometimes referred to as tares). It reads like this…
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
24 Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 “But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. 26 “But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. 27 “The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?‘ 28 “And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?‘ 29 “But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”‘”
36 Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” 37 And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40 “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 “Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
I’ve must have read this parable dozens of times, but something else stuck out to me this time. Normally we focus on the fact that there is the distinction made between the two types of plants. We get concerned about who we are in relation to being a wheat or a tare. I’ve remember hearing someone share how difficult it is to distinguish the difference between the two while they are sprouting up from the ground. The only way to tell the difference is further along in their growth and development that the wheat become top heavy and start to lean over, while tares stand straight up. I always found that fascinating. What an awesome revelation of how we as followers of Christ may look just like the world, yet as we allow our minds to be renewed by the Word of God, we begin to be transformed (Romans 12:2). Our stance in life changes, we begin to see ourselves in light of a mighty and marvelous God. We learn that the greatest is the one that serves. How our lives are an offering to Him and we are here to “do justly, love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). We as “wheat” will be distinguished by our humbled stance. When we live a life that’s humble and bowed low, it will be evident to all that we are different. Tares are upright and proud, sometimes arrogant in their view and beliefs toward God. Yet this parable shows a beautiful imagery of God’s love toward all. The part that struck me new is the heart of “don’t uproot the tares or the wheat”, leave them together til the end. The heart of the Father is not that we separate ourselves from the world, alienating anything that does not agree with our beliefs. We are to be IN this world, but not OF this world. How can we influence a world of lawlessness in righteousness if we are hidden away from them? What are we truly saying if we hide in a cave, or keep our faith and passion covered up? When we see the life of Jesus, He was bold and direct. I love that about Him.
In meditating about all of this, I was reminded of the song from Avalon called “In Not Of” which depicts this very point. The lyrics go like this…
I hide me far away from trouble
The world outside me grows darker by the day
So I promise to stay here close beside You
Surely God would want His children safe
Then in reading, how my eyes were opened
I find that He is leading us out into the world
Into the middle of fallen saints and sinners
Where a little grace is needed most
Come take the Light to darker parts
Share His truth with hardened hearts
We are not like the world, but we can love it
Come bring the hope to hopeless men
Until the lost are found in Him
He came to save the world so let us be. . .
In it, not of it
Wait a minute
If we say we love them, why are we not in it
Why we run and hide
Entertain a stranger
Maybe entertain an angel
The danger is if our worlds don’t collide
We’ve cursed the darkness far too long
We need to hold the candle high
We have to go and right the wrongs
We need to touch the world with love.
So in conclusion, I was somewhat corrected by God in my opinion of working in that environment. I now see it as an opportunity to be a “wheat among tares”, and I truly pray that my conduct and demeanor will be a distinguishable difference, giving me a platform to live the Word before them.