WEEDS GROW WITH THE GOOD SEED? - Matthew 13:24-30 

What Does it Say?  Jesus tells a parable about a farmer who planted good seeds, but while he slept, his enemy threw weeds in with his good seeds.  When the weeds were discovered, the servants asked if they should pull the weeds.  The master said to leave them grow as pulling them out could damage the good seeds in the process. 

What Does it Mean?  Planting God's word in our lives is something we have to work at: we invest in our relationship with God, we learn to walk with Jesus, we read, memorize, think about how it applies to us, and ask God to help us grow.  Satan and his buddies plant the weeds when we are not paying attention.  They see what we do and say and know our weaknesses.  Then they use these things against us.  We are all born with a desire to avoid pain and increase pleasure.  God made us this way and it is not wrong, but Satan uses it to hurt us.  He may use our desire to be loved to lead us into relationships that are not good for us.  He could use our desire to avoid pain to prevent us from doing anything that would bring lasting satisfaction for fear we make a mistake and look stupid.  Satan plants weeds through people within our church that criticize God's servants and what God is doing, to stir up trouble and take our minds off what God wants us to be doing - leading people to become committed followers of Jesus Christ.  To separate the people stirring up trouble from the people that are influenced by them would hurt innocent people, so it is better to let God who knows what is going on in our hearts do the separating.  Other times Satan plants seeds within us to distract us from serving Jesus and experiencing the joy and fulfillment He gives when our relationship with Him is good. He does that in a variety of ways.  For example we may feel God is leading us to do something good.  1) Satan may tell us we are not good enough and discourages us from even trying.  2) Or we do whatever God was leading us to do, it goes well, and God's kingdom is being built.  Then a couple of people tell us what a great job we are doing and Satan tells us how good we are and we deserve better.  3) Or we make a mistake and hear about it and Satan questions how we could be so dumb to think we could ever succeed.  4) Or we keep serving Jesus and Satan tell us this is the path to significance and we start neglecting other important practices and relationships.  Whatever method Satan uses to choke out the good seed God plants, it is important that we recognize Satan's lies and don't believe them.   Our enemy, Satan, is going to be around until the final judgement day, but God is in us and he is greater as 1 John 4:4 says.  When you feel that Satan is choking out your desire to do good, ask God to protect you and help you see what is going on.  Do what you know is right and in the end there will be a harvest.

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