"Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn." (Matthew 13:30)

If you're like most of us, you've probably just considered a "tare" to be a weed that grows among the wheat, one that can be spotted easily with the eye, and is easily plucked out of the field prior to the harvest. However, in doing a little word study, there are a couple additional attributes of a "tare" that are worth looking at, ones that actually speak volumes into what Today's Verse is really all about.

Are you wheat or are you a tare?

Wheat is a grain. A tare, however is more than just a weed, it is a false grain. The word tare comes from the Greek word zizanion which literally means darnel or false grain. When the farmer looks at the field, it is nearly impossible to tell the wheat from the tares. They are the same color, the same height, the same shape, grow in the same soil, and from all appearances are the same. It is only upon careful inspection that he can tell the tare from the wheat . . . the false from the genuine.

The Church, unfortunately, has many tares that are growing up amongst the wheat. The difference is that the tares are a false grain . . . they have no substance, no fruit, no purpose for anything other than to fill up space.

Without being so quick to judge others we feel may fit this description, let's turn our eyes inward to make sure WE don't fit this description ourselves. Let's examine our own hearts. Is our love for the Lord genuine? Is our heart right toward God and our fellow man? Are we bearing fruit, or do we just appear to be fruitful? Do we long for sweet fellowship with the Lord, or do we seek after other fellowship? God's remedy for tares is certainly not something we want to reap in our own lives. If we don't find true and genuine love and zeal for God in our own hearts, it's time to get back to the basics and reconsider our relationship with the Lord. Perhaps we've thought all along that we were OK, but suddenly we feel that we're not. Let's pray and ask God to forgive us for the qualities of a tare we are suddenly aware are hiding in our field.

Dear Father, I have read in Your Word that I can never be good enough on my own merit to gain eternal life and make heaven my home, that Jesus is the only way, that He is the Lord and Saviour of all creation, and that it is by His shed blood that I'm accepted in the beloved. Lord, expose any tares in my heart as I look into the mirror of Your Word. Lord, and cleanse me of all my unrighteousness, and create in me a pure heart. Make my life a sweet-smelling sacrifice unto my Lord Jesus Christ for it is in His name I pray, Amen!

"The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one". (Matthew 13:38)

© Jan Ross
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