Daily Bible Reading and Study Rooted in Scripture Alone
January 20
You Can Look Like Wheat and Still Burn
You can fake faith for a while. You can blend in, learn the language, sing the songs, and grow up alongside the real thing. But Jesus says the field will be harvested, and when that day comes, pretending will not save you.
Matthew 13:24–46 is not gentle teaching. It is patient teaching with a sharp edge. Jesus tells these parables to expose how the kingdom of heaven operates in a world filled with deception and delay. He does not flatter the crowd. He warns them. He tells the truth plainly enough that anyone listening honestly should feel the weight of it.
The parable of the wheat and the weeds makes one thing clear. God’s field is mixed for now. The Son of Man sows good seed, but the devil is active too. Jesus names him outright. “The enemy who sowed them is the devil” ~Matthew 13:39 ESV. There are sons of the kingdom and sons of the evil one growing side by side in the same world, often in the same religious spaces. The problem is not that evil exists outside. The problem is that it grows close enough to look convincing.
The servants want to act fast. They want to clean house. They want visible results. But the master says no. “Let both grow together until the harvest” ~Matthew 13:30 ESV. This is not tolerance of sin. It is restraint of judgment. God is not confused. He is patient. He knows that pulling weeds too early can damage the wheat, and He will not sacrifice the real for the sake of appearances.
But patience does not mean permission. Jesus is blunt about the end. “Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age” ~Matthew 13:40 ESV. Angels will do the separating. Lawbreakers will be removed. “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” ~Matthew 13:42 ESV. Hell is not symbolic here. Jesus does not soften it. He states it as fact.
That should sober anyone who thinks religious proximity equals safety. Standing near truth does not make you true. Growing among wheat does not make you wheat. Jesus says the difference will be revealed at the harvest, not by your confession now, but by your nature then.
Next Jesus addresses another lie people cling to. The idea that God’s kingdom should look impressive right away. He compares it to a mustard seed, the smallest seed planted in the field, yet it grows into something large enough to shelter life ~Matthew 13:31–32 ESV. Then He speaks of leaven hidden in dough, unseen but unstoppable until everything is affected ~Matthew 13:33 ESV.
God’s kingdom does not advance through spectacle. It advances through truth planted, lives changed, and hearts transformed over time. If you are measuring God’s work by size, speed, or applause, you are using the wrong standard. Scripture says, “The LORD seeth not as man seeth” ~1 Samuel 16:7 KJV.
Then Jesus turns the knife inward. The kingdom is not only something God is doing in the world. It is something you must value rightly. He speaks of a man who finds treasure hidden in a field and sells all he has to buy it. He speaks of a merchant who finds one pearl of great price and sells everything to possess it ~Matthew 13:44–46 ESV.
This is not about earning salvation. It is about recognizing worth. When a man truly sees the value of the kingdom, sacrifice is not a burden. It is joy. The problem is not that following Christ costs too much. The problem is that many never see Christ as valuable enough to cost them anything.
Jesus said it plainly elsewhere. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” ~Mark 8:36 KJV. You cannot keep your life and gain the kingdom. One will always be surrendered.
These parables leave no room for casual faith. They expose false security, shallow belief, and divided loyalty. They remind us that God is patient now, but He will not delay forever. The harvest is fixed. The separation is certain. The only question is which you truly are.
Jesus closes with a warning that still echoes. “He who has ears, let him hear” ~Matthew 13:43 ESV. That is not poetry. It is a demand for honest self-examination.
Today you are growing somewhere in God’s field. Tomorrow the harvest comes. Make sure you belong to Christ, not just the crowd around Him.
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Hidden Treasure
New Testament:
Matthew 13:24-46
Old Testament:
Genesis 41:17-42:17
Wisdom & Instruction:
Psalm 18:1-15
Proverbs 4:1-6
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Number one, the kingdom is priceless in value. The kingdom is priceless in value. Both parables are designed to teach us the incomparable value of the kingdom of the Lord. And when we talk about the kingdom of the Lord, we’re talking about salvation; we’re talking about Christ Himself and the gift of salvation that He gives. The knowledge of God through Jesus Christ, the preciousness of what it is to be in His kingdom, the preciousness of fellowshipping with the King, the preciousness of being a subject of the sovereign.
The blessedness of the kingdom is so valuable that it is the most valuable commodity that can ever be found, and only a fool is not willing to sell everything he has to gain it. Nothing comes close in value. In Christ and in His kingdom there is a treasure. There is a treasure that is rich beyond comparison. There is a treasure that is rich beyond conception. There is a treasure that is incorruptible, undefiled, unfading, eternal.
The kingdom is not superficially visible. The treasure was hidden, right? And the pearl had to be sought. It isn’t just lying around on the surface. The treasure is not obvious to men. The value and the preciousness of the kingdom of heaven, the value and the preciousness of salvation is not viewed by men, they don’t see it although it stands there and looks them in the eye.
The world looks at us and they don’t understand why we’re all about this business of worshiping God. They don’t understand why we want to give our lives to Jesus Christ. They don’t understand why we want to live and obey a code of ethics and rules that goes against the grain of our deepest lusts and drives. They don’t understand why we price this so highly when it means so little to them. No, the kingdom is not superficially visible.
It says in I Corinthians 2, “The natural man understandeth not the things of God, they are foolishness to him.” And in II Corinthians 4, it says, “That the god of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ should shine unto them.” So, it isn’t that apparent. Even though the message is here and the Word is here, they don’t see it. They’re blind. It is not superficially manifest. In both cases, one, there is a seeking; the other there was a discovery and a pursuit of that which was discovered.
Some people never bother to look beyond the surface. They’re so busy fiddling around with the baubles and the trinkets and the toys and the pebbles that lie on the surface, they never get to the treasure underneath. One writer put it this way, “Under the form of a man, under the privacy and poverty of a Nazarene was the fullness of the Godhead, hidden that day from the wise and Prudent of the world. The light was near them and yet they did not see it. The riches of divine grace were brought to their door and yet they continued poor and miserable.”
And that’s true. And there have been multitudinous times that I and you, as well, have gone and given the description of the treasure and the pearl to people who have turned their backs and walked away. And they do not care. They do not want that. They do not understand its inestimable value. It is not superficially perceived. That is why it says in Matthew 7:14, “That narrow is the way and few there be that find it.” And that is why it says in Matthew 11 that the kingdom is taken by the violent who take it by force. In other words, it must be pursued.
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You Need to Know the Bible for Yourself
Everybody needs to know what the Bible really says: what it says about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, salvation and eternity, etc. Don’t depend on what a church or some famous preacher tells you. If you depend on Hollywood, the History Channel, or a magazine for the most important information you will ever need to know. You may end up lost forever not knowing what God has written down for you. He wants you to spend eternity with Him.
You need to know Jesus before you can be saved. The bible is all about who Jesus is and what He has done for you. He has a gift for you and it is completely free. But if you don’t know Him, you will not be in the Kingdom of God with Jesus who gave His very life for you.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ ~ Matthew 7:21-23
There is an absurd amount of very bad information out in the world today about the Bible. You will only know the truth if you study the bible for yourself. And if you study the bible and ask The Holy Spirit to open your eyes to the truth He will and it will change your life forever.
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