Shinning Like the Sun

February 9, 2016

Shinning Like the Sun

Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom.

Matthew 13:43

Earlier in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus gives the Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat (Matthew 13:24-30). Later, when Jesus is alone with his disciples, he interprets the meaning of the parable. Surprisingly, since most parables are metaphors, that is, illustrations drawn from ordinary events to reveal a spiritual truth, this parable is decidedly allegorical; each thing or person is representative of something else. Jesus is the farmer sowing good seed; the children of his Kingdom. The devil is the enemy sowing bad seed, wicked children in the same field. The good and bad children grow, side by side, until the harvest when the angels of God separate the wheat from the chaff. The chaff is destined for oblivion and the wheat is destined for eternal glory.

Two lessons I receive from this parable are, first it is God who judges, not me, not the church. My responsibility and the responsibility of the church are to stand firm on our pursuit of scriptural holiness, and leave the judging to God. Secondly, instead of gazing out through the windows of the church and assuming those on the outside are the wicked children of the devil, I desperately need to remember that I am indeed an amalgamation, containing both good and evil thoughts giving way to both good and evil deeds. I know I can sing Saint Paul’s song with the best:

“I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t.  I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.”   

Romans 7:18-19

The truth in Jesus’ parable is that the everlasting purity of God’s love will burn the dross out of me, and because I have been reborn through faith in the good seeds sown by Jesus, I am destined to shine like the sun in my Father’s Kingdom.

Can I get an AMEN? 

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.