We Will Shine Like the Sun
by Liz Griffin
Jesus told a parable about the Kingdom of heaven being like a field of wheat invaded by weeds. The servants working for the farmer couldn’t understand where all the weeds were coming from, as they’d seen wheat being sown there. What they didn’t know was that, while they were sleeping at night, an enemy had come and added these weeds. The weeds were probably darnel, a ryegrass which looks much like wheat in its early stages of growth. Roman law prohibited sowing darnel among the wheat of an enemy. So the parable is not an unrealistic story.
The master knew the truth and told the servants not to pull up the weeds in the field, but to leave them until harvest time. Then the reapers would be told to deal with the weeds first and burn them. After that the wheat could be safely gathered into the barn.
The disciples of Jesus wanted to know the real spiritual meaning of this parable and Jesus was glad to tell them it was all about the activity of God’s Kingdom in the world, which exists on earth side by side with the realm of evil. The enemies of the Kingdom are the weeds and the sons of the Kingdom are the wheat.
‘He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels’ (Matthew 13:37-39).
This parable teaches us that Father God is patient and compassionate. He waits until the time is right before He brings His final judgment upon all the evil in the earth, but that time will surely come. His angels will reap the harvest and separate the wheat from the weeds. The followers of Jesus will be separated out from those opposed to Him. Until then God is giving the maximum number of people every opportunity to grow into either wheat or weeds.
The final judgment will bring all the mysterious, secret growth of God’s Kingdom to an end. No longer will terror, crime, sin and suffering dominate our world. Instead it will be a glorious time, where all is healed and restored to God’s creation order. And what will you and I be doing? Shining forth like the sun. ‘Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father’ (Matthew 13:43).
Prayer: Father God, we thank You for the assurances of Jesus, our Lord, that Your Kingdom is steadily growing in mysterious, secret ways and won’t be overcome by the activity of the enemy. Help us to remain steadfast in our hope for the bright and glorious future ahead of us alongside You. Help us to trust You as we follow Your ways. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Liz Griffin lived for 20 years as an expatriate in South Africa, Bahrain and Japan, as her husband Paul worked for an international oil company. Paul and Liz became involved with Ellel Ministries in 1991 as part of the ministry team and joined the full-time team at Ellel Grange in 1995. Paul and Liz teach and minister to those seeking healing in their lives and together have written two books, 'Anger - How Do You Handle It' and 'Hope and Healing For The Abused'.
Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship. Provided full acknowledgement is made to Seeds of the Kingdom as the source, you are also welcome to use it in a non-commercial way and reproduce it in magazines or other Christian websites. The copyright for any commercial use of the material remains with Ellel Ministries International.
