Good morning, dear people.
Wow! It’s already after 9am. Becki is in the kitchen crafting breakfast. But I still aim to do my old man jog routine—which I intend to do after launching this into cyber space. I’ll take my breakfast when I return.
I have pressing sign work—as well as pressing mill work. It’s always a matter of selecting which urgency is most urgent.
May your day be blessed—as you manage your garden.
Ray
“Who hath ears to hear, let him hear” is the more familiar King James Version rendering of that statement. I don’t know your take, but “you’d better respond” seems to carry more personal punch for me than just “let him hear.” It seems to impart a greater level of personal responsibility.
Hear what? Hearing Jesus’ parable of the weeds. In the first part of this reading we hear Jesus presenting the parable. In the last part we hear Him explaining it. My inspiration seems to be taking me outside the box this time around—discerning closer-to-home significance beyond the explanation Jesus imparts.
Jesus clearly states that “the field is the world” (v. 38). But this shoe also seems to fit the idea that YOU AND I ARE FIELDS. That is, our internal gardens are not just planted with GOOD—as many ideologies would have us believe. Whether we like it or not, we are also a planting of EVIL as a result of ORIGINAL SIN (NATURAL SIN NATURE) that contaminates our insides and naturally produces bad fruit in opposition to the good “FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT” (Galatians 5:16-26).
In regards to this matter of our dual natures growing simultaneously together, I believe it is of utmost importance to understand that a residue of our NATURAL SIN NATURE is never fully and absolutely eradicated this side of eternity. The best we can do is to continually appropriate the redemptive resources we have been given in/through Christ—“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature” (Galatians 5:16. NIV). It sure sounds like you and I are greatly responsible for planting, cultivation, and weed control within the boundaries our personal gardens.
It’s noteworthy to me how much focus the Word gives to the illustration of farming/sowing and reaping. Notice how many of Jesus’ parables bear that imagery. Add to this the warning Paul gives in Galatians 6:7-8: “Make no mistake about it, God will never be mocked! For what you plant will always be the very thing you harvest. The harvest you reap reveals the seed that was planted. If you plant the corrupt seeds of self-life into this natural realm, you can expect to experience a harvest of corruption. If you plant the good seeds of Spirit-life you will reap the beautiful fruits that grow from the everlasting life of the Spirit” (Galatians 6:7-8, The Passion Translation).