Side By Side

January 21

Genesis 38

Psalm 12:5-8

Proverbs 3:7-8

Matthew 13:24-58

Side By Side

“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 heads also appeared…. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil.”  Matthew 13:25,26,38-39 NIV

Sometimes I wish that I could just go somewhere and shut myself away with my Christian friends and family members and be apart from the corruption and evil I see in the world.  I used to be an avid news junkie.  I watched the news all the time.  It was the first thing I turned on in the morning and I watched it before I went to bed at night.  I even set my computer to alert me of breaking news stories.  But I found that it made me depressed, so I have slowly backed off.  I still turn it on for the headlines, but it does not consume me.  Watching all the stories about murders, wars, riots, politicians involved in immoral or illegal activities, and so on and so on makes me ask God when will enough be enough.  When my girls were little, I remember times when they would be arguing, and I would tell them to stop.  They would keep arguing and I would tell them to stop again.  After a few times I would finally get to the point where I raised my voice and would tell them that it was enough.  They knew they had pushed me to the limit, and they better stop.  It was over. 

Fortunately, God is much more patient than I am. If I was God, I would have returned long ago to put an end to all the evil in the world and set up a “new Heaven and a new Earth.”  As in the parable we looked at today, all the sons of the evil one would be removed and thrown into the fire and the devil himself would be eliminated permanently.  What a glorious day that will be when Satan is no longer able to influence anyone and when there will be no more sin and evil in the world.  God’s mercy and grace are evident as He tarries, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”  2 Peter 3:9 (NIV) Until that day, we must remain in the world as salt and light.  We must live our lives in a way that will influence others to come to Christ.  We cannot remove ourselves from the world, but we can live in a way that sets us apart from it.