Key Thought

Jesus leaves the crowd. They will not own him. They will not even be the source of his greatest or most important ministry the rest of his life. He will focus on his disciples. They are his work because they can continue it after him. He will pour himself into shaping them and preparing them for a life of ministry. Once again Jesus reminds the disciples that their ministry and his church will live in a real world where many people do not follow him. In fact, those who don't follow him are under the rule of Satan to some extent or another (Ephesians 2:1-3). While we are in the world, we are not tied to the world. While the world may at times offer things that look like authentic faith, they are nothing more than Satan's deceptive mirages. Our goal is to make a difference in the lives of those who are in the world and bring them into the Kingdom of light and prepare them for the day of the Lord's harvest.

Today's Prayer

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Most powerful and holy God, help me to understand what is at stake in the lives of people who do not know you as Lord. Please give me a passion to work with Jesus in liberating them from the bondage under which Satan holds them. Through your Spirit, please stir my passion and my insight and my timing so that I can be used by you to make a difference in the lives of my friends who are not a part of the Kingdom family. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

Then Jesus used another story to teach them. Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like a man that planted good seed in his field. That night, all the people were asleep. The man's enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat. Then the enemy went away. Later, the wheat grew and heads of grain grew on the wheat plants. But at the same time the weeds also grew. Then the man's servants came to him and said, 'You planted good seed in your field. Where did the weeds come from?' "The man answered, 'An enemy planted weeds.' "The servants asked, 'Do you want us to go pull the weeds?' "The man answered, 'No, because when you pull up the weeds, you might also pull up the wheat. Let the weeds and the wheat grow together until the harvest time. At the harvest time I will tell the workers this: First gather the weeds and tie them together to be burned. Then gather the wheat and bring it to my barn.'" Then Jesus told the people another story: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. A person plants that seed in his field. That seed is one of the smallest of all seeds. But when the seed grows, it is one of the largest garden plants. It becomes a tree, big enough for the birds to come and make nests in its branches." Then Jesus told the people another story: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman mixes into a big bowl of flour to make bread. The yeast makes all the dough (bread) rise." Jesus used stories to tell all these things to the people. Jesus always used stories to teach the people. This is the same as what the prophet said: "I will speak using stories; I will tell things that have been secrets since the world was made." Then Jesus left the people and went into the house. His followers came to him and said, "Explain to us the meaning of the story about the weeds in the field." Jesus answered, "The person that planted the good seed in the field is the Son of Man. The field is the world. The good seed are all of God's children in the kingdom. The weeds arethose people that belong to the Evil One (the devil). And the enemy that planted the bad seed is the devil. The harvest time is the end of the world. And the workers that gather are God's angels. "The weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire. It will be the same at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send his angels, and his angels will find the people that cause sin and all people that do evil. The angels will take those people out of his kingdom. The angels will throw those people into the place of fire. In that place the people will be crying and grinding their teeth {with pain}. Then the good people will shine like the sun. They will be in the kingdom of their Father. You people that hear me, listen!

— Matthew 13:24-43 (ERV)

Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center. All rights reserved.