Harvest Time! – The View From The Bridge

By: Jackie Warner

There once was farmer who planted good, precious seeds in his field but the enemy came at night and planted tares (weeds) among the wheat. As the wheat started to grow, so did the tares and it was asked of the farmer by his workers did he not sow good seeds. Of course his response was yes, but the farmer knew that the enemy had come and “tried” to sabotage his crop. The key word here is “tried.” His workers then asked if they should pull out the tares that were growing with the wheat. The farmer said no, let them all grow together until the harvest so as not to harm the wheat; and then they would be separated. So the good wheat and the tares grew together until the harvest; and then the tares were bundled and burned and the wheat was put in the barn. You may ask why I have shared this story with you; and my answer would first be to share this statement: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9.

As we view our media devices, turn on the news, read the paper, or listen to the radio, we are constantly given insight to all that is wrong or bad with our world today. It is overwhelming and it truly leads us to wonder what our world is coming to. Well let’s face it. There is no denying it – there is negativity, destruction, and continuous chaos all around us – The world we once knew is no more.

Yes, there is a lot of evil but make no mistake – there is still a lot of Good and a lot of God in this World. We are living in different times. This causes us open our eyes, broaden our thinking, and even expand our understanding in areas to which we never gave much thought or concern.

I challenge each of us to continue planting those good seeds of faith, knowledge, love, kindness, and understanding and not lose focus of our critical goals and personal responsibilities to family and community. As the farmer instructed his workers not to remove the tares from the wheat, we too will be faced with the tares of life all around us, but do know that growth is still an option. What the farmer said to his workers at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” Matthew 13: 24- 30
So, Stay the Path and then the Ultimate Harvest. …