Hebrews 6: 7-8 “Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed.   In the end it will be burned”.

Jeremiah 4:3 “Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns”

Matthew13:7, 22 “Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants…The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful”.

 Have you ever been struck by thorns which have broken off into your skin?  Isn’t it painful? Notice that the area where the thorn remains tends to get infected, harden and can cause problems later if not removed.  In the same breath, have you ever watched a plant being taken over by a thorny one?  What I have noticed is that if that thorny bush is not removed from the root, it keeps growing back and if left unchecked, then it overtakes the original plant destroying it completely.

God is calling our attention to the thorns in our lives.  Where in our lives do we have thorns and thistles that are threatening to make our lives unproductive, worthless and unfruitful? 

In the parable of the sower Jesus the Christ is pointing out that there are two main things that affect our productivity and fruitfulness in the Kingdom of God.  The first thorn is the worries of this life. When you are worried it is almost impossible to think about anything else and sometimes you are worried to the point that you are paralyzed into inaction.  Can you see how that makes you unproductive?  God wants sowers, reapers, kingdom builders but if we are crippled by inaction we cannot serve effectively and that is exactly where satan wants us to be; so focused on what we do not have and what is going on in the present or will happen in the future, that we do not act for God.    What are you worried about? Life partners, children, possessions, jobs, future…?  The question is, will worrying solve the problem? The head answer is no yet we still work up ourselves in a tissy running around like a headless chicken with no sense of direction.  How does our heavenly Father want us to address this first thorny issue. Firstly as Proverbs 18: 10 reminds us “the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are saved”, so let us run to him and confess that we are worried about our lives and hand over our half developed plans. Let us exchange the lies of satan, that God cannot take care of us, for God’s living and active words found in Matthew 6:25-34:

“Therefore I tell you do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes…Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  And why do you worry about clothes…O you of little faith.  So do not worry saying, “What shall we eat? or What shall we drink or What shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own”.

God uses His heavenly tweezers and removes the thorns of worry. He shows us that we cannot add a single hour to our lives by worrying.  Research has shown that worry can actually decrease the hours of your life, so which do you prefer?   God reminds us that he knows what we need and He will provide it in due course.

 The second thorny issue is the deceitfulness of wealth that chokes the production and fruitfulness of God’s word in our lives.  Everyday we hear songs that speak to wanting to be rich.  Wealth is associated with power and influence.  Having wealth is not the problem as Proverbs 11:25 notes.  The problem is when we begin to believe that wealth is our source and we replace God with wealth in our lives.  So instead of listening to God and letting Him direct us, we go on our own steam where angels fear to trod because we have the means and influence to do so.   Proverbs 18:11 tells us that “the wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall”.  Jeremiah 5: 27-28 is even more graphic “ …their houses are full of deceit; they have become rich and powerful and have grown fat and sleek.  Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not plead the case of the fatherless to win it, they do not defend the rights of the poor”.  When have we become so callous that we have become evil even in how we fight injustice.   God is asking what is the condition of our heart, where is our treasure?  Have we forsaken the spring of living water for the broken cisterns of fame, wealth and power? Jesus calls attention to our lives.  He wants us with His help to recognize that we are being deceived, what we sow we shall reap.  So if we do not break up the unplowed ground of our hearts, get rid of these thorns so that we can be productive and fruitful, we are in danger of being choked, cursed, useless and worthless.

Jesus lets us know that no longer can we say’ I am just a worrier, no big thing’.  The fact that Jesus associates it with the deceitfulness of wealth and that both choke out the life of the seed (God’s word) should send off alarm bells and cause us to rethink our lifestyles.

PRAYER

Open the eyes of our hearts Lord so that we can see the areas in our lives that are filled with the thorns of worries and the deceitfulness of wealth.   Search us cell by cell and surgerically remove any thorn of this nature residing in us.   Realign us with your Living Word, sharper than any two-edged sword.  Give us with it takes to resist the devil and his lures of worry and deceit of any kind.  Forgive us where we fail you and transform us from the inside out.  Amen