Weeds, Thistles, Thorns and Tares

Because of the summer drought that have hit the plains of the Midwest United States, I did something recently that I had not done in nearly two months. I mowed my yard. Although the grasses were still pretty dormant and yellowish, the reason I mowed my yard was because the weeds, thistles, thorns and the tares were growing tall and full—and green.

Even without water, it seems that the one thing that has flourished in the drought has been the weeds, and thistles, the thorny, pesky invaders of our yards and fields. The bad seeds. The unwanted crops.

For Christians, the spiritual lesson is that without the continuous refreshing of the Holy Spirit of God, we can become weeds, thistles, thorns and tares at the human level. We need to always be able to drink deeply from the word of God (the Holy Bible) so as to not quench the power of God in our daily lives.

Where we should be drinking deeply of the Holy Spirit, Satan and his demons wants us to go thirsty, to dry up and turn into weeds, thistles, thorns and tares in a spiritual way so we will fail and become unacceptable to God.

In a drought, everything becomes stressed and dormant, and much can die. But, we as Christians must stay close to God understanding that a drought, a famine of the word of God is coming, soon, for the entire world. The prophet Amos tells us this in Amos 8:11-12. “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God, “That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it.”

After hearing the parable of the tares in Matthew 13, the disciples in verse 36 asked Jesus to explain the parable of the tares. In verses 37-43, Jesus answered them, “The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the Kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

True Christians need to be aware that Satan wants us to dry up, to fail, to wither and be burned in the fire. However, we have a protector (Jesus Christ, our High Priest) who sits at the right hand of God interceding on our behalf. Keeping that always in mind, we must live a life worthy of being protected, being nurtured and well fed by the word of God.

God knows the way of the righteous. Psalm 1:6 says, “For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

In times of drought, it seems the bad seeds flourish. Yet, we cannot allow them to overtake us—in our yards or in our hearts. Spiritually, let us always delight in the laws of God, and be like the trees planted by the rivers of water, that bring forth their fruit in due season.

To learn more about the process of developing God’s holy and righteous character in our own lives, read our powerful booklet, What Is a True Christian? or watch our Tomorrow’s World telecast, “Death, Resurrection and Your Future.”