We don’t always have a choice about where we put down roots.

But we have a lot to say about how they grow.

For example, in a parable [or story] Jesus Christ told to His disciples, He explained that tares [or weeds] had been secretly planted close to a landowner’s wheat.  But He also noted that the landowner was aware of the consequences of trying to remove the tares before the wheat reached maturity.  

It was difficult to determine which was which until they were more fully grown.

Not only that, the roots of both would have become laced together as they grew since most weed roots aggressively seek to blend in with those of a host crop.   By pulling up the tares, the undeveloped roots of the wheat would also be destroyed in the process.

The solution was to allow both to continue to grow until harvest time, not just so they could be accurately identified, but also to provide the wheat crop the best opportunity to survive the trauma of being separated from the weed roots when they’re pulled out of the soil.  [see: Matt. 13:24-30; 36-43]

I’ve always been aware of tares growing roots around me.  But, over the past few months, I’ve noticed a lot of them have shed their outwardly disguises and have begun to look like the toxic weeds they actually are.

So, harvest time might be closer than I realize.

But, if I’m truly bound up together with Christ, my roots will soon emerge healthy and continue to expand largely unseen, just like plants and trees.  Strong, healthy plant roots will not seek to mingle with weed roots.  The strength of my roots is a measure of my maturity.

This parable that Jesus told was only one of many He prefaced with the words, “The kingdom of the heavens is like…”  Every man He has called for His purposes is like the landowner’s wheat struggling to thrive in hostile surroundings.  But the good news is that the maturation process begins to accelerate when he decides to start focusing on the kingdom harvest yet to come.

And that’s important because, whether a wheat plant or a disciple of Jesus Christ, the key to becoming a fruitful participant in the bountiful harvest is reaching maturity, regardless of the soil conditions.  But it’s hard to get there living in the company of noxious roots.

He could, however, learn to live and grow righteously in spite of them.

If not, he can expect to perish with them. [vss. 40-42]

“…until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”  [Eph. 4:13]