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.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
How to display the above article within the Worthy Suite WordPress Plugin.
[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]According to church history, the apostle Thomas, died in Calamina, a city in the East Indies. While there, Thomas had put a stop to the idolatry that was running rampant in the land. The idolatrous priest was not happy about this at all and accused him before their king. The king sentenced Thomas to death -- first to be tormented by red hot plates and then cast into a glowing furnace and burned. When the priest saw that the fire was not hurting him, he pierced Thomas' side with spears and javelins, and finally Thomas died.
A significant response to the current pandemic has been medical professionals in various places offering valuable advice on the role of diet toward building and increasing our body's immunity to viruses and disease in general. This kind of advice can be truly salutary, even life-saving. Yet the aphorism, "You are what you eat", though often heard, isn't always taken as seriously as we might...And that may contribute to unpleasant health consequences.
Missionaries Dick and Margaret Hillis found themselves caught in China during the Japanese invasion. The couple lived with their two children in the inland town of Shenkiu. The village was tense with fear, for every day brought terrifying reports of the Japanese advance. At the worst possible time, Dick developed appendicitis, and he knew his life depended on making the long journey to the hospital. On January 15, 1941, with deep foreboding, Margaret watched him leave.
As Joshua led the children of Israel into the promised land it seemed that God had given them an impossible assignment -- to conquer a foreign and hostile land with fortified cities and armies greater than their own. They had to go forth only on the basis of God's promise. They had to walk by faith and not by sight!
Over the weekend, the ministry lost a dear brother who suddenly died of a heart attack. In times of mourning, the realization dawned (once again) that this life is utterly fleeting ... a vapor in the wind ... and these frail human bodies in which we dwell are mortal dust. We are living in the land of the dead and dying, and only those of us who truly know and are known by the Messiah, upon our death, will enter the land of the truly living!
An ancient story in Church history tells of the apostle John. He would constantly repeat the words, "Little children, love one another." And his disciples became weary of the phrase. Finally, in his old age, as John was being carried to their assembly, the disciples asked him, "Why do you always repeat these same words?" "Because friends," John replied, "it is the Lord's commandment -- and if only this one were fulfilled, it would be enough."
The apostle John quotes Isaiah 53:1, saying to whom has the z’roah [arm] of the Lord been revealed? It’s a question that God answers throughout the rest of Isaiah 53, describing in detail the life of Yeshua (Jesus) and the ultimate price He would pay for the sins of the world.