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Saturday, July 27, 1996

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Jeremiah 7:1-11
Psalm 84
Matthew 13:24-30

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wheat your garden

"When the crop began to mature and yield grain, the weeds made their appearance as well." —Matthew 13:26

The Lord doesn't weed His garden (Mt 13:29). Therefore, if you're wheat, you must suffer being intertwined with a lot of weeds (see Mt 13:29). The Lord does things this way to give the weeds the opportunity to turn into wheat. However, the very opposite can occur. The wheat can become like weeds and lose their new life in Christ (2 Pt 1:10; 1 Cor 9:27).

Thus, wheat must be concerned about converting weeds and not being perverted by them. Conversion and perversion are related. If we do the work of conversion, we will not be perverted. However, if we ignore our responsibility to offer conversion, we are in great danger of becoming perverted. If we don't share our faith, we may lose our faith. Evangelization is a matter of life or death — not only for the weeds but also for the wheat.

For God's sake, for weeds' sake, for your own sake, love a weed enough to tell him that Jesus loves him enough to die for him. Wheat your garden.

Prayer:  Father, may I love weeds and show it.

Promise:  "Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds; if each of you deals justly with his neighbor; if you no longer oppress the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place, or follow strange gods to your own harm, will I remain with you in this place." —Jer 7:5-7

Praise:  Ricardo, a salesman, routinely witnesses to his prospective clients.

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, November 29, 1995


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 4, 1995