Worth the Risk

This was our devotion a few days ago, and I thought it was worth sharing!

The Parable of the Weeds

Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
   
“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.


 “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” ~Matthew 13:24-30


"The world is a messy, mixed-up place, where good and bad co-exist. In life there is not a wheat field over here and a field of weeds over there; rather, they are all mixed together.

How do we know, in life, who’s a weed and who’s wheat? It’s not as easy as you think to tell saints from sinners. Appearances can deceive. True story: one day a man, dirty and disheveled, shows up at the church door. He has a dog on a leash, a mangy, emaciated mutt. The man tells a story of woe that every pastor has heard a hundred times, “I lost my job . . . I’m hungry . . . loan me some money and I’ll pay you back, honest.” Partly out of sympathy, and partly to get rid of the guy, the pastor gives him a ten-dollar bill. The man walks across the street to a convenience store that sells beer and wine. The pastor, watching from the church window, kicks himself for being a sucker. A few minutes later, the guy walks out of the store, clutching a brown paper bag. He sits down on a bench and opens the bag, which contains dog food. And he feeds his hungry pooch, putting the animal’s needs before his own. It’s not always easy, in life, to tell weeds from wheat.

Oh, and a week later the man returned to the church and paid back the ten dollars.

“Do not pronounce judgment before . . . the Lord comes,” said Paul (1 Cor. 4:5). Don’t be too quick to pull weeds."

(Lou Lotz, Of Weeds and Wheat, Words of Hope February 27, 2011)

Unity

Mike and I read this in our devotional the other night:

"Leave and cleave--different words, significant words.

When you exchanged your wedding vows, these two words became part of your life. But do you understand them? To leave means sever one relationship before establishing another. This does not mean you disregard your parents. Rather it requires you break your tie to them and assume responsibility for your spouse.

To cleave means to weld together. When a man cleaves to his wife they become one flesh. This term is a beautiful capsule description of the oneness, completeness, and permanence God intended in the marriage relationship...

...Years ago I heard a choice description of the coming together that is involved in cleaving. If you hold a lump of dark green clay in one hand and a lump of light green clay in the other hand, you can clearly identify the two different shades of color. However, when you mold the two lumps together, you see just one lump of green clay--at first glance. When you inspect the lump closely you see the distinct and separate lines of dark and light green clay.

This is a picture of your marriage relationship. The two of you are blended together so you appear as one, yet you retain your own distinct identity and personality. But now you have a marriage personality which exists in the two of you..."

(Taken from Quiet Times for Couples by H. Norman Wright)

I thought this was an accurate description of why Mike and I chose to do the increasingly popular unity sand at our wedding. We began our unity sand with white sand at the bottom to represent God as our foundation. Then we took turns pouring our sand into the bottle, I had blue and Mike had red. We each have our own layer of sand, but together they make a beautiful display--we each are distinct in our personalities. We will never be able to separate my blue sand from Mike's red sand--we have made our vows to each other, and to God, and that's something else that will never be separated.