WHAT GOOD ARE WILD OATS?

I have heard of wild oats, but I had never heard of Avena fatua until I set out to write this article. According to Wikipedia, “Avena fatua is a species of grass in the oat genus. It is known as the common wild oat.” The article goes on to state, “This species and other wild oats can become troublesome in prairie agriculture when it invades and lowers the quality of a field crop, or competes for resources with the crop plants. It takes very few wild oat plants to cause a significant reduction in the yield of a wheat or cultivated oat field.” (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avena_fatua). Now that caught my attention!
 
We have probably all heard the idiom, “sowing one’s wild oats” which essentially means to behave in a reckless, impure manner and is especially directed at youth. What good are wild oats? In nature, they take away from a good crop. It reminds me of the parable of the wheat and tares found in Matthew 13:24-30. Jesus provided the explanation of this parable in Matthew 13:36-43. The one who “sowed the wild oats (in the parable identified as the tares)” was the devil (Mt. 13:39). Thus, to “sow wild oats” is to behave like the devil! We should never encourage anyone, especially our youth, to behave like the father of lies (Jn. 8:44). To be a tare is to be gathered and burned in the fire at the end (Mt. 13:40-42). Just because everyone is doing it does not give me license to do it (Ex. 23:2). The reality is not everyone is doing it, and I can always decide to do the right thing. Evil company still corrupts good habits or morals, so we want to be sure we choose our associates wisely (1 Cor. 15:33). Abstaining from every form of evil is a sure-fire way to avoid the fire (1 Th. 5:22)!
 
Youth is a vibrant time of life and should be spent wisely. One of the wisest men to ever live, Solomon (cf. 1 Kgs. 4:29-34), wrote the book of Ecclesiastes (Ecc. 1:1). He wisely stated that youth must be spent remembering the Creator (Ecc. 11:9-12:1). There will be difficult days ahead of youth as the body fails and eventually dies (Ecc. 12:2-7). Using the energetic time of youth for good is the grand message from this old sage! Man’s all is to fear God and keep His commandments which will keep the wild oats from being sown (Ecc. 12:13).
 
The youthful Timothy was instructed by the aged apostle Paul to be an example to the believers in word, conduct, love, spirit, faith, and purity (1 Tim. 4:12). The King James renders “to the believers” as “of the believers.” Both are good thoughts and highlight that we need to be Christians (believers) that are both an example of what a believer looks like and an example for other believers to follow. There is no greater One to imitate than God (Eph. 5:1) and His beloved Son (Rm. 8:29). When our audio (word) matches our video (conduct), our motivation is love, our attitude is focused on doing the Lord’s will, we are dependable, and we are pure from the defilement of sin, then we will be as God wants us to be. I have no time to sow wild oats when I am working for the Lord!
 
What good are wild oats? They are good for nothing! Let us be like the precious wheat (the righteous) that will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of God (Mt. 13:43)!

Trent Thrasher