Mark 4:1-9
This week we are going to talk about the soil with the thorns. I’m willing to bet that this soil is the most prevalent through out the world, especially for us here in America. Here is what Jesus says in verse 7, “Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.” The word goes out, springs up but doesn’t produce fruit because the thorns choke it out. What happens here is very similar to what happens to the seed in the rocky soil that we looked at last week. The difference in the two soils is what hinders the growth of the plant. Last week it was that the soil was shallow and the sun, or persecution, caused the plants to whither and die. In this circumstance it is the presence of thorns. And in verses 18 and 19 Jesus says that the thorns are the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things.
Have you ever had God speak to you and you get all fired up, but the next day your mind is filled with work or your spouse or your kids and you forget all about what God has said. This happens to me all the time, and not only to me. This is what I see most in the people around me. God tells us to stop worshiping possessions and the next week we have a new TV because that old one was just about to die. This is all silly and we are only justifying our sin to ourselves.
One of my favorite passages concerning this topic is Luke 21:34-36,
But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.
Just before Jesus says this he is instructing his disciples on the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem as well as the second coming of Christ when judgment will be brought on the whole earth. Jesus warns his disciples and I think that we should heed his warning. We must watch ourselves so that we aren’t so weighed down that when he comes back, we’re surprised. Not only are we surprised by the coming of our Lord, but we are not able to stand before him. This is not a good thing. We must cast aside the sin that so easily entangles and chase after Jesus, longing for the day that he returns not falling asleep and being rudely awakened.
I fear that we have become too complacent with our American Christianity. We live lukewarm lives in the name of grace and freedom. And we are under both, but Paul tells us that we are not to continue in our sin just because we are saved by grace. And pride in possessions is sin. The love the world is sin. If you ever want to doubt your salvation read 1 John. He says if you love the things of the world, you don’t love God. But we continue to justify our materialistic lives in the name of God’s blessing, when maybe really he has given us over to the wicked desires of our heart, and we are storing up wrath for ourselves on the Day of Judgment.
Stay awake! Don’t let the cares of the world weigh you down and keep the word of God from bearing fruit in your life. He knows you have needs but seek first his kingdom. “[cast] all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.” Trust in God and not in the comforts of the world. Bear fruit.
-Mitchell
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