IDENTIFY THE ENEMY

Today’s Gospel Text: Another parable he put before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the householder came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?' 28 He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' 29 But he said, 'No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 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.'"

31 Another parable he put before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." Matt 13:24-32

Reflection:  Surely every good worker of the kingdom will be surprised at the weed among the wheat. They would not know who has put them there, hence they have to ask the master, how the weeds came about.

There are those, in our days, who have heard the masters injunction to his servants and may even plead that the weed remains there because the master has ordered thus to his beloved servants.

Surely, the seeds of false teachings from false prophets, who are the enemies in our midst, will always exist. This doesn’t mean that the enemy who has sown the seed should remain for long and openly with the master and work to burn the bundles of wheat rather than the bundles of weed.

The apostles who had understood this parable did not take life casually, as shepherds to whom Christ had entrusted his flocks to. They made it a point to help the servants identify those are from the enemy and those who were from the master.

I often see some of the enemies hiding behind this scripture with their tails, pleading that they be spared just as the master have spared the weeds to. They assert that if the weed be removed then the wheat would get harmed.

This should never happen in the church of God, which is the bulwark of truth.

   

The Apostles as masters and shepherds always made it a point to warn the church and never failed to act:  “Any one who goes ahead and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God; he who abides in the doctrine has both the Father and the Son. If any one comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into the house or give him any greeting; for he who greets him shares his wicked work. 2 John 9-11

(Rom. 16: 17; Eph. 5: 6-7; 1 Cor. 5: 9-11 are some of the scripture passages where you see the apostles seeking to expose or correct the enemies of the gospel of Christ)

In our days when the enemy has infiltrated the shepherd class, there is an urgent need to be alert against the enemy and expose them if need be.

Prayer: “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou who leadest Joseph like a flock! Thou who art enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth before E'phraim and Benjamin and Manas'seh! Stir up thy might, and come to save us!  Restore us, O God; let thy face shine, that we may be saved! Ps 80:1-3

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us