Choked by Thorns
—Bearing No
Fruit
Is your life a rat race? Are you running around in circles, struggling with all of this world's demands, and bearing no fruit spiritually? Is the spiritual seed in you choked by thorns?
(Luke 8:7,14)
¶“7Some seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up with it and choked it... 14The plants that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as life goes on they are choked by its cares and riches and pleasures. Their fruit does not mature.” (Luke 8:7,14).
1 Recognising the Problem
People become worried about many things because of the pressure to get more and more money. But they spend a lot of money on pleasures to blot out the worries. It's a merry-go-round that makes people feel more dizzy and sick than merry.
While we are caught up in this spiral we are like the seed that germinates but is then choked by thorns as it struggles to reach the sunlight. It never gets there.
You will notice the main problem is that we "bring no fruit to maturity". In other words we lose our proper goal in life and chase worries, riches, and worldly pleasures. We go in circles and accomplish what really amounts to nothing.
That's a common problem in Australia and many other places. So how can we apply Jesus’s warning to our lives? How can we stop worries, riches, and pleasures from choking our efforts to bring fruit to perfection?
The secret lies in dealing with our worries and freeing ourselves from the love of money and of this world. Freed of these thorns our souls can flourish and we can cope with our circumstances.
2 Dealing with Our Worries
We deal with our worries by trusting that God really is at work in our lives. We can confidently cast our burdens on him, knowing that he cares about us (1Peter 5:6-7).
We trust that if we seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness then he will provide the supply adequate for our physical needs (Luke 12:22).
We may be freed from our anxieties through prayer. "Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to God with thanksgiving" (Philippians 4:6-7).
We will then be able to see more clearly the many options and opportunities God provides. We will also see clearly the encumbrances and cares that rob us of "the good part". We can lead more tranquil lives because we have the few things that are needful (Luke 10:41-42).
3 Not Loving This World
We must also rid ourselves of the love of money which is the root of all kinds of evil (1Timothy 6:6-11).
Let us be diligent in our daily work to earn enough to keep ourselves in a modest manner. We might also save a sensible sum to take care of future needs and to share with others who may suffer misfortune (1Thessalonians 4:11-12, Ephesians 4:28).
Let us not love the world and its stuff, its silly ways, its loves, its pride. All these are passing away. Don't let these things choke your devotion to the things which are eternal (1John 2:15-17).
Be satisfied with little here below so that you have room in your days to accumulate treasure in heaven and bring much fruit to perfection (Matthew 6:19-21).
The above article was originally written circa 1980 and published in The Communicator.