³⁶ Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

³⁷ He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, ³⁹ and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

⁴⁰ “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. ⁴² They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

Dear God, this story kind of coincides with the whole thing I have been doing lately with Job. Satan is sowing evil amidst your glory. It does make one wonder why you allow THAT to happen. Why allow him to sow in the first place?

I suppose it is another example of your respect for your creation and the fact that you allow even your angels free will. Just like the free will you offer to me.

I am sometimes amazed at how hard it is to accept the idea of free will for my children. Sometimes they get mad at me for reasons that I would consider unjust don’t like it. There’s a part of me that wants to force them to act the way I want them to act, including influencing how they think. But you’re right. If I were able to do that and pull it off, then any love they showed me would be empty and meaningless. So I suppose it is better to watch their mistakes and feel their ire than to make them love me.

Father, the thing that struck me about Job’s story is that everyone thought you were responsible for his suffering. Satan got zero blame for it. People get unjustifiably mad at you all of the time because they blame you for things that you didn’t do, or that you are working for their good. I have done it too. So please forgive me for when I have gotten angry and sinned against you. I am truly sorry.