Fallen Among Thorns

Luke 8:7, 14, speaking of seeds, states and some fell among thorns;

and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And they which fell among thorns are they,

which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with the cares and riches and

pleasures of this life…

So, let's think about it. What is your spiritual

condition; is it among thorns? The poet Percy B. Shelley wrote I fall upon the thorns of

life…I bleed! Thorns and weeds do not fall at our discretion–we fall among them. God

sows seeds of goodness, blessing, sustenance, happiness, joy, and peace through his Son

Jesus. As undeserving as I am, God still loves me enough to sow the His Seed in my heart.

He wants to sow our lives with His abundance.

In the scripture, seed was sown on many

types of ground; we want to look at the thorny ground. There are 250 species of weeds, and

we are told that 2/3 of them are in our yards. They outgrow grass. Some stick; some prick.

Some bloom and are pretty. But a weed is a weed is a weed. They hinder; they rob. They wrap

around a good plant and choke it to death. Thorns and weeds have a purpose; they have an

agenda. They want to take over. This is part of the curse on the earth due to Adam's sin in

the Garden of Eden. They cause injury and harm to the plants. Thorns and weeds in our lives

do the same to us.

If you get caught in a briar patch, it is not easy to get out. Do

you find yourself among thorns, caught up in the riches, pleasures and cares of this life?

The same things that kept people from God in the Bible times are the same things that do so

today. So many realize their need of God, but put Him off until they get out of the

thorns–until they take care of this or that. Do you realize that putting God off is your

main problem? Satan will convince you to put your problems ahead of God. But the greatest

problem any person has is his soul's condition. THE MAIN PROBLEM IS NOT BEING RIGHT

WITH GOD.

Life will never be without problems. Instead of letting the thorns

of life choke us, we need to reach out of the thorns and call on Jesus. God has a great big

weed eater and can keep the garden of our lives cleaned up. The Master Gardener already has

scarred hands capable of weeding the thorns and weeds from our lives.

The scripture

mentions riches and pleasures as well. It is not a sin to have things, but when those same

things come between us and God they become sin. Sometimes its not the having of them that

catches us, it's the pursuit of them. This pursuit becomes a thorn keeping us away from

God. We need to be fed spiritually. Pursuits do us no good if our soul is not right. They

cannot take us to heaven. The pursuits can be an outing, even shopping–just everyday

things we enjoy. In themselves there is nothing wrong with them. But when we will not

sacrifice them and do sacrifice the things of God for them, they become sin. They deprive

us of prayer time, Bible study and church. We find we cannot attend to our souls for

pursuing them. We are into our obligations so heavily we cannot make time for God. They

will choke us. They need to be weeded else we will die spiritually. They spread quickly. If

let go, they will take over.

Have you made a thorny weed patch out of the garden

God intended for you to have? Answering this question may take some soul searching,

humility and honesty to deal with it. Have you fallen among thorns? Call on God.