“But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest…’”

Matthew 13:29, 30

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I grew up across the street from a wheat field. Every year we would watch as the farmer, first, prepared the ground for the sowing of his wheat. Great cultivators would come and disrupt the weed-infested soil, turning it over to expose the rich earth beneath. Next came the planter, covering the whole field with good seed, working tirelessly until every square inch of that acreage was sown with the hope of wholesome, life-bearing fruit. Soon the green shoots would appear, turning the black soil to a promising green.

Before long, however, the weeds would begin to appear – pockets of green and red infestation distributed here and there throughout the field. In due course, the farmer would return, spreading good fertilizer throughout his field, a blessing which the weeds would also enjoy, even as the seedlings of wheat consumed and grew stronger by it. Each would continue to grow. The weeds would spread, blocking the sun from weak seedlings and taking over the ground they once occupied. Ugly, heady, and intractable, the weeds would increase and cast their seed between the rows of earth, as more and more pockets of undesirable intruders made their presence felt.

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All the same, the greatest portion of the field produced strong plants, which grew to golden heights, their heads bent beneath the summer sun, indicating that the harvest was near. I could only imagine the struggle for supremacy that went on between the good wheat and the ugly weeds – a competition for soil, water, nutrients, light, and space which was played out throughout the growing season.

In just the same way Christians must expect that the weeds of sin will strive against the full flourishing of the Kingdom. What is the nature of this struggle? The devil and his minions – spirits and men – will strive to capture our affections, pollute our minds, corrupt our Godly priorities, and infest our every practice. They will leach into our time and rob us of God’s most precious gift. They will infect our work with an obsession for self-advancement, and replace interest in Kingdom endeavors with frivolous distractions and dangerous diversions. The enemies of the Lord will persuade us, with great humor and promise, that we are better to invest in the insipidity of entertainment and fun than the hard work of advancing the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Before the long the very ground on which we stand will be wholly seeded with wickedness. The Light of the World will be overshadowed by the comforting shade of deceitful pursuits. Disciplines designed to help us grow in the grace of the Kingdom will give way to meaningless, trivial pursuits. And all the while we’ll continue to attend church, go to our Bible studies, and sheepishly decline to call our neighbors to repentance, all in the name of personalized religion and not wanting to ruffle feathers. What was once a promising field for wheat becomes a bed of weeds – in our lives, churches, and communities – as we give way to the progress of evil, denying our Kingdom provenance and calling, and betraying the One Who died that we might live.

The struggle for supremacy goes on with a vengeance, and you and I are the focal point of sin’s most vicious assaults.

Start your own ViewPoint discussion group. This week’s series is available in a free downloadable format, suitable for personal or group study. Download the series, " Pattern of History ."

For more information on this topic, get the book, The Roots of Endurance, by John Piper, from our online store. Or read the article, “Watch Yourselves,” by T. M. Moore.