In His kingdom, God lets the wheat and the weeds grow together. He does not pull weeds until they die or He comes again (Mt 13:30, 40). He delays in pulling weeds so that they might change and become wheat. However, it is possible that, while waiting for the weeds to turn into wheat, the wheat may turn into weeds.

Therefore, "be solicitous to make your call and election permanent" (2 Pt 1:10). "After beginning in the Spirit, are you now to end in the flesh?" (Gal 3:3) "It was for liberty that Christ freed us. So stand firm, and do not take on yourselves the yoke of slavery a second time!" (Gal 5:1) We must not become lukewarm (Rv 3:16) and turn away from our first love (Rv 2:4). "Let anyone who thinks he is standing upright watch out lest he fall!" (1 Cor 10:12) "When men have fled a polluted world by recognizing the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and then are caught up and overcome in pollution once more, their last condition is worse than their first. It would have been better for them not to have recognized the road to holiness than to have turned their backs on the holy law" (2 Pt 2:20-21).

The Lord gives us the grace to become free and to stay free through His "holy law" (2 Pt 2:21), that is, His word. The truth of God's word frees us (see Jn 8:32). "The law of the Spirit, the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, has freed you from the law of sin and death" (Rm 8:2). Look "into freedom's ideal law and (abide) by it" (Jas 1:25). Abide in God's law, word, and truth (see Jn 8:31-32). Stay free.

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, November 28, 1998

Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 1, 1998