I’ve always disliked weeding. By the end of an hour of this horrendous task, either my back, my knees, or both are in pain that seems to take a week to correct itself. My maternal grandmother, though, could seemingly spend days working around her yard to ensure that weeds didn’t prevent her roses from getting the proper nutrients or that the groundcover remained uniform. She had a knack for weeding.
It's probably due to my disinclination towards this seemingly never-ending chore that I’ve always felt a special disdain toward the enemy who has sowed weeds amidst the wheat (though I am also reminded of just how evil God’s Enemy truly is). There are people in the world who will seek to distract us from pursuing God’s Kingdom. Some will do so for their own selfish reasons, while others simply see church and the pursuit of a relationship with God as a waste of time. There is also the Great Enemy, the Devil, who will seek to keep us from knowing God in His fullness.
Later in this chapter, Jesus explains this parable fully, juxtaposing the Children of God and the Children of the Devil. While for many 21st century Americans, this dichotomy can seem polarizing, nearly all of us have had interaction with someone who seems to fall in that latter category. While God calls to all of us to be His Children, He has also given us all the free will to choose whether or not we accept Him. The greatest challenge is that the weeds of this parable, as in life, do not sit idly by, but actively seek to starve the wheat from receiving the water and nutrients that it needs.