Day Forty-five – Matthew 13:36-43

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you

And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are the angels.”  Matthew 13:37-39

This poor planet! There is too much violence, too much suffering, too much grief, too much evil.

Looking into the distant future, Jesus saw a time when “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire” (v. 41). Imagine this: Planet Earth innocent and healthy, where everything is perfect–exactly as it should be–, nothing corrupt or impure, nothing abusive or oppressive, nothing that involves one person exploiting, using, or harming another.

In the meantime, Jesus has planted “good seed.” Never forget that. The world is not void of kind people, good-hearted and godly men, women and children. The world is not a nightmare of ugliness, lies, and violence. Yes, there are instances of those things, but there is also a great deal of beauty, truth and goodness.

The fact is, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.” Jesus has planted himself in the hearts of millions of people who look to him every day for the grace they need to love as he has loved and to carry on his work in the world by doing good wherever they see a need. We are both encouraged by the presence of Jesus in these people and we are among them, to the extent that we, too, find our identity and destiny in him.

We thank You, heavenly Father, for giving Your Son to the world and for giving us access to Him and to You through Him. Please knock down every wall that we have built around our soul–whether intellectual or psychological or simply through guilt, anxiety, or pride–and enter the core of our existence so that Your love is in our every heartbeat and Your Spirit in our every breath.