Today’s Application of Parables

by Olly Harmon
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 19 No. 1, March 1993

The other day, I took a good look at my surroundings and the house I have been left with, which had not been touched for over three years. Oh, yes, I had painted the outside and whacked off things that got in my way in the process, but I had not taken care of the outside as it used to be cared for by the lady of the house. I decided that I had to do something, even though I did not have the talent she had, nor the "green thumb."

I first took care of the barren places, where the flowers that had been put out three years ago had withered away and been cast out for lack of care and replacement. It took time to stir up the dirt, add some planting mixture, and plant and tend some new flowers.

After about three or four hours of toil and perspiration, I stood back and was amazed at the transformation. My mind immediately thought of the charge that God gave to Adam and Eve to "tend the garden" (Genesis 2:15); and I now understand a little better God’s order to "dress and keep it."

Then I noticed the shrubbery and plants around the house, and the "wildness" that had seemed to take hold of some of them, intertwining among each other to where you couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began. I decided that it was time for me to take care of the "tares" in my yard, for the parable of the Lord concerning the tares in the field came to my mind as I gazed at the house and the tangles of shrubbery and grasses in the plant beds.

Once again, the lesson and meaning of the parable became clearer to me in Matthew 13:24ff. Like the man in the parable with his wheat, I too had been asleep for the past three years, and my "enemy" surely had put the tares amongst the shrubs and plants. Why, some of the "grass" was over 18 inches long, and there was stuff in the maze of weeds and grass and plants that had died out a long time ago. So, once again, after three hours of cutting, pulling out, weeding, and some more perspiration, I stood back and looked at the result of my labors. It was rewarding to say the least, and I could see why my grandson Jeffrey told his Nana, "you’ve got to do something ’cause there is the momma squirrel and daddy squirrel, but you can’t see the baby squirrel." It and the turtle among the flowers had been gobbled up by the wildness of the "tares" within the garden.

It is easier to understand how everyday things are used to spread His gospel among the people. They could relate to everyday things that they dealt with regularly in their lives. They knew wheat fields, tares, weeding, planting, and taking care of the things of this life. His lessons were all the more forceful when taught in the relationship of known factors.

I shuddered to think about the shape our lives and our souls would be in if left unattended for three years. We need to heed the admonition of Hebrews 10:24-25 concerning assembling and, daily, renew ourselves with the study of the Word of God, so that we can discern right from wrong and truth from error.

The apostle Paul knew that better than anyone else (except the Lord, of course). He told Timothy to "study to approve thyself ... not being ashamed ... rightly dividing the Word of truth" (II Timothy 2:15). Once we neglect daily studying and reading, that old enemy tends to creep in like the tares and choke out that knowledge of God and we become slipshod in our attendance and devotion to our first love, the love of God. Like the apostle Paul, we need to buffet our bodies daily and keep them under subjection, lest we, too, become a castaway and be rejected of the Lord on that final day of judgment.

What is an "unprofitable servant?" Well, if you have had the misfortune to pick weeds and cut shrubs, and reseed and׳ replant where once flourished lovely, neat, trim, and pretty flowers and shrubs, you get a better insight into the term unprofitable. Especially so when you get scratched, damp with sweat, your clothes dirty from "grubbing in the dirt," and irritable from your own stupidity in letting things get into such a state. That’s "unprofitable!" a waste of time, effort, and money, all of which could have been profitably spent in the study of Scriptures, preparing a lesson, or visiting with someone.

We need to understand more fully the Lord’s teaching in John 8: we cannot adulterate our lives but must constantly purge out error and be free from sin. Since we know He is the "light of the world," we must walk "in Him" and not in darkness (John 8:12). If we do not purge out that which is disrupting our following Jesus, we will (as He says) "die in our sins" (John 8:23-24). John 8:26 tells us that God is true and that Jesus speaks the truth that He has heard from God, as He teaches and instructs. Therefore, let us resolve to continue to purify ourselves and be more like the Master, cleansed and sanctified, free of the cares and tares of this world.

Remember the apostle Paul’s statement in I Corinthians 11:1, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." Again in Romans 12:1, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

May God continue to sustain us in our walk through life unto the heavenly home.