Matthew 13:24-25 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
With so much disinformation and so many voices speaking into our lives, people often ask for my thoughts on who to trust and what to believe. In light of that, I believe it’s time to step into a deeper kind of discernment — becoming what I would call a fruit inspector. This series is born out of that burden: to learn how to recognize the difference between the wheat and the tares.
Yeshua (Jesus), when asked about the events leading up to His return, did not begin with wars, disasters, or global upheaval. His first warning was simple and direct: “Take heed that no man deceive you.” That alone tells us something profound. The greatest danger in the last days is not just what is happening around us — it is the deception that can grow among us. Yet Yeshua did not leave us vulnerable. He gave us a clear way to see through deception: by inspecting fruit. When we learn to recognize fruit, we gain the ability to discern the times with clarity and confidence. That is the foundation we begin with.
Yeshua introduces the parable with a striking image: a man sowing good seed into his field. Everything begins as it should — intentional, pure, and full of promise. But then, under the cover of night, while men slept, an enemy comes and sows tares among the wheat. The field is not abandoned; it is infiltrated. The issue is not the absence of good seed, but the presence of a second, corrupt seed planted alongside it.
In the natural world, the plant Yeshua refers to as a tare is widely believed to be darnel, sometimes called poison wheat. What makes this plant so dangerous is not just its toxicity, but its resemblance. In its early stages, darnel looks almost identical to wheat. The leaves are similar, the growth pattern mirrors it, and to the untrained eye, there is no clear distinction. Ancient farmers understood this well. In fact, sowing darnel into another man’s field was considered such a destructive act that it was addressed in Roman law. The enemy did not need to destroy the field outright — he only needed to corrupt it from within.
This is the heart of what Yeshua is revealing. Both seeds grow in the same soil. Both are exposed to the same conditions. Both develop side by side. Yet their origin is entirely different. Later, Yeshua makes it clear: the wheat represents the children of the Kingdom, while the tares represent the children of the wicked one. This is not merely a parable about agriculture — it is a revelation of two spiritual realities unfolding simultaneously in the earth.
This truth carries weight, especially in the hour we are living in. Not everything growing in God’s field came from God’s seed. Not every voice that sounds right is rooted in truth. Not everything that appears genuine carries life within it. There is a parallel growth happening—truth and deception, light and darkness — maturing together until the time of harvest.
This is why discernment cannot be superficial. In the early stages, wheat and tares cannot be distinguished by appearance alone. You cannot rely on charisma, gifting, influence, or presentation. These things can be mimicked. The only reliable measure is fruit. Wheat will eventually produce life-giving grain, while the tare will reveal its nature in what it produces.
So we come back to the words of Yeshua: “Take heed that no man deceive you.” This is not a call to fear — it is a call to awareness. It is an invitation to move beyond surface-level perception and into Spirit-led discernment. The Lord is not asking His people to be suspicious of everything, but to be discerning in everything.
Beloved, this is the hour to awaken. The field is full, and the voices are many, but God has given His people the ability to see clearly. The Spirit of Truth is present, and the fruit is visible to those who will look. This is the time to sharpen your discernment, to test what you hear, and to refuse to be moved by appearance alone. Do not be swayed by influence or drawn in by what merely resembles truth. Look deeper. Look for the fruit. Because those who learn to discern between the wheat and the tares will not be shaken in the days ahead. They will stand with clarity, walk in truth, and be ready for the harvest that is coming.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]This groundbreaking conversation took place at Caesarea Phillipi, which lies today in the modern day reserve of the Banias in the Golan Heights region of Israel. The city was established by Ptolemaic Greeks, a Hellenistic community where the worship of the god Pan was centered. Reviled by the Jews of Yeshua’s time and considered by them the most idolatrous place in the entire Galilee, to this day it remains a place of nature worship and deep paganism…
David’s faith and courage in volunteering to fight Goliath was an embarrassment to his big brother Eliab, an officer in King Saul’s army. I imagine his thinking went something like this; “If my little brother wins everybody will ask, ‘How come you didn’t go out and fight him?’” The Bible records that Eliab “burned with anger at David and asked, ‘Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is…’” These are devastating words from an older brother. Before David could defeat Goliath he first had to overcome the attitudes, accusations and words, of those close around him.
The noted English architect Sir Christopher Wren was supervising the construction of a magnificent cathedral in London. A journalist thought it would be interesting to interview some of the workers, so he chose three and asked them this question, “What are you doing?” The first replied, “I’m cutting stone for a shabby 10 shillings a day.” The next answered, “I’m putting in 13 hard hours a day on this job.” But the last said, “I’m helping Sir Christopher Wren construct one of London’s greatest cathedrals.”
It is among popular “Christian” belief that an abundance of material and other blessings follow those whose hearts are truly after God and that those who seem to consistently struggle to that end, cannot possibly be in God’s perfect will. I want to submit to you a realization I had about this very thing. I think we might have it all backwards.
A National Geographic article published a few years describing a real celestial event which took place at the time of the birth of Jesus reminded me of Risto Santala’s explanation in his book, “The Messiah in the New Testament in the Light of Rabbinical Writings”. He wrote about a conjunction of major planets that took place which could have led the wise men from the east, to Israel.
The Shema is recited every Shabbat in Israel and throughout the world: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.” The emphasis is on hearing—not just with our ears but our hearts. That same emphasis runs through the Gospels, where Yeshua (Jesus) repeatedly says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” This isn’t just a phrase; it’s a life-changing command.
Many families across the U.S. are gathering today to celebrate “Thanksgiving.” But let’s take a moment to turn our hearts to the ultimate source of thanksgiving: God Himself. Psalm 100 is often called the “Psalm of Thanksgiving,” and it’s a perfect guide for how we should approach God—not just during Thanksgiving but every day.