by dssynergy 20 Replies latest jw friends
Around here Digitalis grows wild, the Native Tribes use to smoke it, I think you can see god with a few puffs
LOL @ designs!
When I was a kid I lived on a farm. One year we had Puffballs growing wild near our large garden. Man, they were good fried up in a little butter!
Oh my gawd Schrooms
Oh my gawd Schrooms
Totally! One of those things fed all 5 of us. Yummy!
by digitalis do you mean foxglove?
Yes, I think its the white flower on the wild ones that give you the Big Bang
Does this parable apply to organizations (i.e, churches or religious groups) or individuals (you or I)?
Individuals, definitely. No church or organization has complete conformity amongst its members that it COULD be judged as a whole. Not even the JW's.
Tammy
For anyone with Celiac, this parable means nothing. They'd rather have the weeds.
So AGuest what do you do beyond what any other descent person does to be a wheat. You pray, sing hymms, evangelize, hold a job, are honest, what else.
The items you mention does not constitute one being "wheat", dear designs (peace to you!). Those are things "desirable" to the people of this world (and certain countries/societies/cultures within it). One is "wheat" because one is a "seed"... of the Woman, "Jerusalem Above". (Revelation 12:17; Galatians 4:21-28)
The Most Holy One of Israel is a cultivator... a gardener... a sower of seed (Genesis 2:8; John 15:1)... and thus, so is His Son, the One who learned from Him (Matthew 13:37). And He sowed seed in the physical realm (the term "founding of the world" comes from the Greek words "katabole" and "kosmos" and literally translates to "throwing down of the seed... in the world/universe" - Matthew 13:35; 25:34; John 17:24; 1 Peter 1:20; Revelation 13:8) through that Son. Such seed (those sown by God through Christ) are the "wheat."
That seed must survive, however, and come to full "ripeness" in order to be properly "harvested." Unfortunately, not all do so survive. (Matthew 13:3-8, 18-30, 37-42) The issue for the "wheat", then, is not how to BE one... but how to SURVIVE as one... and not be eaten up, scorched and withered, or choked off.
One does this by showing himself/herself to have been "sown" on "fine" soil. How? Certainly NOT by making a bunch of disciples (and certainly not by making disciples of men/religion, etc.). This is a false teaching of religion. True, the apostles were sent out to make disciples... but that doesn't prove that they are "wheat" sown on "fine" soil. One proves oneself to be THAT "wheat"... by "producing"... fruit. The "fruit" of God's spirit. (Matthew 13:23)
They produce this "fruit" by submitting to the "pruning" done by God, the TRUE Cultivator, by submitting to the pruning done by His Son, Christ, the One He taught... appointed... and assigned... to handle that job for Him. Because proper pruning is what allows the production of even MORE fruit. (John 15:1) Christ does this by "subduing" such ones... through teaching THEM to be mild-tempered, merciful, pure in heart, peaceable... and things like these. (Psalm 110:2; Matthew 5:5, 7, 8, 9)
So, while ALL of the "wheat" HEAR... all do not survive. And, of course, not all of the "seed" sown... is "wheat." Only that seed which is of the Woman. The others... are the "weeds."
Actually, 'weeds' ARE beneficial.
I am glad you put the word "weeds" in quotes, dear Heaven (peace to you!), because you are right: some "weeds" are quite beneficial. For example, canabais/hemp. Some consider that a "weed". Indeed, that is it's common name. BUT... that plant has more benefits that almost every other plant out there. It can be ingested as well as provide clothing and other useful items. Most of the medicines (in fact, I think I read somewhere that ALL of the medicines - ) we use come from plants, some that are labeled "weeds" by those who don't know their properties and value.
In the parable, however (and sometimes in the physical world), a "weed" really is just that: an undesirable plant, good for nothing but "choking" the desirable, beneficial... and nutritious plants (for example, "wheat"... as well as your dandelion... and things like poke, and a number of other plants that we can live on, that ARE beneficial to us)... off. Ultimately killing them. Which is why weeding a garden is beneficial.
Because WE call it a "weed", however, does not make it so. In the parable... a weed really is a weed: a plant of no benefit. It is a major product of the "cursed" earth.
I hope this helps and bid you both peace!
A slave of Christ,
SA
I am glad you put the word "weeds" in quotes, dear Heaven
My reasoning for doing this is that I do not subscribe to the theory that a plant is a 'weed'. When the man-made term 'weed' is used, the real issue is the actual location a plant is growing in and not the plant itself. And the location is what man has deemed as inappropriate. Only man must cultivate in a monocultural way. Nature is all polyculture. This is why I find this parable to be rather meaningless.
If you look at how a natural system develops without any interference from man, the plants have a cycle and a succession that occurs over years, starting with what are called 'pioneering species' ( oh, the irony! -- but seriously, these are plants which grow and thrive in harsh, low-fertility conditions ) and ending with plants that remain for hundreds of years (such as large coniferous or deciduous trees). Each plant has it's benefit and life span in the cycle and each helps to build the platform for the next generation of species in the system. They contribute to the overall ecological cycles here on Earth.
This is the self-replicating, natural system of plant progression on Earth. There are no weeds.
This parable was actually one of the teachings that spurred me on to get baptized. It makes a lot of sense by JW dogma... that there was always "wheat" (Christians) throughout history but they were not allowed to be fully identified till harvest (time of the end, supposedly now).
Whether it is individuals/organization I'm sure JWs thought it was initially individuals from the 1st century till now, and now it is the borganization.
A load of rubbish.
