one step: Matthew 13.4

So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’  But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”

Scripture is clear that our enemy is not flesh and blood, but have you ever had to do life with a flesh and blood person who seemed to have teamed up with the enemy’s purposes in making your life miserable? I know I have. It’s not easy, and that kind of difficulty may cause us to ask God to remove that person from our life.

Often that person is in our life for a season and a purpose. God wastes nothing, so if someone chooses to partner with the enemy to make your life difficult, or if they are just really annoying, God will use that for your good too.

It must be observed, however, that in the parable of Jesus about the weeds (Matthew 13:24-30), the Kingdom of Heaven makes room for weeds and wheat to grow side by side. According to Jesus, weeds are such that they are indistinguishable from the wheat up until a certain point of maturation.

Have you ever thought that you were doing life with a Kingdom person only to find out that their values and their goals were different than your own? Discoveries such as this are seldom without pain attached.

Why would God allow wheat and weeds to grow side by side? Why would God allow us to be hidden by false wheat? Why would the true wheat be hidden in obscurity?

Maybe you are reading this today and wondering if you are the only one attempting to live as a Kingdom person, guided by Jesus and attempting to walk in His ways. Do not lose hope. Though you look around and see weeds, you are in fact planted in a field of wheat.

God allows wheat and weeds to grow side by side because pulling out the weeds prematurely would destroy the wheat (their roots are intertwined). Meaning, if God removed people from your life that weren’t following Him, it would be very bad for you. There is some purpose that God has in mind for you as a neighbor to those that seem like enemies. There is some way that God is using that person or those people in your life for your good in this season.

Hold onto the hope that one day God will bring you out of the field and into the safety of His house. Until then, we must ask the Lord, “God, here I am, a Kingdom person, living in the obscurity of life, surrounded by people who do not know you, do not care to know you, or have rejected you. What would you have me do? How would you have me grow? Might some of the weeds around me simply be wheat that I have mistaken for weeds because they are not yet mature?”

I looked like a weed once because I had not yet matured enough to look like the wheat I was all along. In areas of my life, I still look like an immature plant, easily mistaken for weeds. Too often in my life, I have judged others as against me or against God just because they needed to mature. I needed to grow up and grow closer to Christ to see people where they are for who they are (Lord, help me with this I pray).

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to ask the Lord who around you needs your help to mature into something that looks like its true wheat-self. Perhaps God wants you to allow Him to show you areas of your life that look like a weed and needs maturing. Maybe today God wants you to receive His power and encouragement to live life amongst weeds. Perhaps the Lord wants you to receive His breath of new life today to empower you to endure until the end.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 348–351, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 13:24–35) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).

one step: Matthew 13.3

To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

There is a level of understanding reserved for those who choose to draw close to and follow Jesus. Practically speaking, it makes sense that you will only know certain things about a kingdom by drawing close to the source of that kingdom. In the case of the Kingdom of Heaven, you will only know certain things about it by drawing close to Jesus.

The statement of Jesus above sits in an explanation of the parable of the seeds that Jesus shares with the disciples. In this explanation, we are given a second opportunity to respond. The first opportunity to respond to the parables of Jesus comes in an invitation to draw near to Him for the explanation. The second opportunity to respond comes in how we will react to that explanation.

In the explanation of the parable of the seeds, I am challenged to reflect. How much more likely would the soils of the hearts in the story have received the seed if they simply had simplified their life?

When I look at my life, I see complexity. I have lots of things to maintain; I have a desire to obtain more things; at times I believe that wealth will make me happy, so I think of ways to chase it; I have activities pulling at my time that may or may not be a part of God’s will for my life… how many of these things are in the parable as threats to the germination and maturation of the seed? Probably most of them.

A simplified life is not a spiritual life, but a simplified life might just make room for it if we allow it. A simplified life just might make room for drawing closer to Jesus.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to simplify life. Perhaps today God is asking you to make more room for Him in your day-to-day living. Maybe God wants you to take a step to draw near to Him so that He can show you more of the mysteries of His Kingdom. Perhaps He wants you to minimize those things that can choke out His words.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 338–348, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 13:10-23) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).

one step: Matthew 13.2

He who has ears, let him hear

Jesus opens His parables in Matthew 13 with the parable of the sower. If you recall, the sower sows seeds that fall in various places. These places help to determine what sort of harvest will be produced. Seed that fell on the path got eaten up by birds. Seed that fell in the rocky ground sprang up quickly because of the warmth provided by the shallow soil, but that same sun destroyed them on a hot day because of a lack of roots. Still other seed fell amongst thorns. These seeds found themselves choked out, unable to get the nutrients they needed. Lastly, the seed that fell in the good soil produced a great return, coming to maturity and doing as God created them to do.

Jesus tells this story, packed full of meaning, and ends with these simple words: “he who has ears, let him hear.”

These words shed light on this truth: we should take note of what kind of soil we have in our hearts. The kind of soil that we have in our hearts is not fixed. It can be plowed, weeded, watered, irrigated, etc. To sit back and accept whatever condition our heart is in is to refuse the responsibility that has echoed throughout the invitation of Jesus: repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

Jesus invites us to pause long enough to hear His words and to allow them to transform our lives. In doing so, we will see the soil of our heart change into a place where His words can produce much harvest. The issue of the people of Jesus’s day is the same as the issue of our day: there are many distractions that keep us from pausing long enough to hear.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to silent your soul to hear His words. Perhaps God wants you to allow some word that He has spoken to you to penetrate the soil of your heart and take root. Maybe it’s time to reject the idea that “this is just how I am,” and it’s time to embrace your ability to hear His transforming words.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 334-337, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 13:3-9) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).

one step: Matthew 13.1

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down… And the whole crowd stood on the beach.

Up until this point in the story of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is pictured preaching in synagogues. In the verses written above, Jesus steps out of the church building and onto the beach. He steps out into nature and into the world of those who need to hear. Moving forward in Matthew, this usage of nature as a cathedral increases.* Jesus moves from the four walls of a building to the front lines of ministry.

The Word of God and the story of the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven must be taught and represented in churches today. The impacts of failing to do so ripple through our soul and into our society like a stone dropped into water. However, as an example to His disciples (and to us) Jesus takes the news of the Kingdom further by expanding it into the world of those who need to hear but may never step into a synagogue.

The Lord has called my wife and I to step onto some beaches and to bring the Kingdom of Heaven with us. He has called us to take the message from the synagogue and bring it alongside the stones and the sand and the clouds and the waves who daily sing of His glory. The mission is messy. The waves are loud, the sand is sticky, the stones are heavy, but the weight is glory.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to join in the chorus of glory by stepping out of what is comfortable, safe, and dry. Perhaps God wants you to answer His call to speak His truth to those who need to hear for His glory.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 333–334, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 13:1-2) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).

one step: Matthew 12.8

And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, He said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!”

Have you ever felt alone? Loneliness can come at different times for different reasons. Loneliness is peculiar in that you would think that you would have to be alone to be lonely, but this just isn’t the case. People can feel lonely for a myriad of reasons including but not limited to a sense that no one can relate to them and their experiences, that no one cares, or that no one values who they are. The feeling of isolation that loneliness can produce can feel like oppression. We weren’t made to live like this.

Jesus placed us in families and friend groups that we call community because He intended us to do life together. Sometimes, because of the brokenness or sin of humanity, these relationships can feel unstable or missing. We can find ourselves questioning our actions with questions like, “How can I perform to be accepted?” or “What must I do to fit in?” Questions can also turn from actions to identity when community doesn’t look or feel as we expect: “What’s wrong with me?” or “Why did God make me this way?”

Loneliness is a dangerous place. If we are not careful, we will allow the enemy to answer each and every one of these questions for us. When he does, the answers will steal, kill, and destroy us no matter how much we think the answers make sense.

Family and friends can keep us guessing. Jesus makes things simple.

How do you be a part of the family of Jesus? How do you live in community with Him?

Jesus puts it this way: For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.

If you want to be family to Jesus, just follow Him in obedience to our Father in Heaven. If you want to cast away the lies of worthlessness and insufficient value, turn your eyes upon Jesus.

What’s wrong with you? Nothing.

Why did God make you this way? Because He needed a smile and you are His delight.

How can you perform to be accepted? You can’t. Jesus already did all that needs doing. Just follow Him in obeying whatever God says.

What must you do to fit in? Jesus isn’t trying to keep you out… there’s a place for you in His family.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to simply receive His gift of family. Perhaps you have been obedient to God, but you are struggling to receive your place in His family. Maybe you have received Jesus, but you have been afraid of community. Perhaps you have been hearing a little too much of the enemy lately regarding who you are and what you must do. Maybe God wants to change that. Perhaps God wants you to receive your identity and acceptance in Him and His family.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 330–332, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 12:46-50) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).