Lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 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.” Matthew 13:29-30 ESV
This time of year, I do a lot of a weeding. In other words, I engage in the arduous task of getting rid of unruly plants that pop up where I do not want them to grow. These wild growths may appear healthy – and even attractive – but they are taking over the soil, sucking up nutrients, that is designated for other plants.
Sometimes, I even find weeds in the cracks of my driveway or between stones in my garden border. Despite their unsightliness, I can’t help but marvel at the determination of these feisty plants. In seeking light, they defy all odds.
As much as I dislike getting rid of the interlopers, weeds aren’t all bad. In addition to miraculously thriving in unexpected places, weeds can have medicinal purposes are used to aid myriad conditions. They also support the work of pollinators, spreading health to the entire ecosystem.
During the monotony of weeding, I think about the “weeds” in my own life. While not necessarily evil, certain activities — social media scrolling, internet deep diving, self-doubting, procrastinating, online shopping – can take root and derail me from fulfilling my God-given purpose. Like weeds among my planned plantings, these distractions distress me or stress me out. They take up space in my brain, deplete my energy, and just generally get in the way of the life I really want to lead.
I know that Jesus taught in parables to sort of bop us over the head with common-sense lessons. Yes – in all of our lives, the wheat and weeds grow side by side. Sometimes, their roots intertwine. As such, in the garden of each of our lives, we must be discerning about what is growing, what needs to be cultivated, and what needs to be uprooted.
Weeds test our faith. The point of the parable is that Christ seeks to weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.
My goal in gardening is to create a pristine space for plants and flowers to prosper. Similarly, Christ’s goal is to free our lives of weeds so that we can flourish and “shine like the sun in the kingdom of [our] Father.”