Thorny-vines

“And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. . . . Now these are the ones . . . who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” (Mark 4:7, 18, 19)

Weeding is a reality in life. If you want tomatoes and squash and beans and okra and any other good thing, pulling up the other stuff—the grass, the weeds, the thorny vines—has to happen. If you want a nice lawn, something has to be done about that ragweed, those thistles and briars. Leave a garden untended, and the wilderness will take over in no time and with no help from you.

Such is life for the Christian. It may be true the tares and wheat grow up together, i.e., the wicked and the righteous are left to share space in the world; but this cannot be true of our hearts. There is a garden that must be kept weed-free. There is no place there for anything other than that which bears the fruit from the seed of God’s Word.

Three things are specifically pointed out by our Lord, three varieties of thornies. First is mentioned “the cares of this world,” which cares we all know all too well. These must be replaced by or transformed into the cares of the kingdom of God. It is not that we are not to care about things, as if the Christian life were simply a “don’t worry, be happy,” laissez-faire sort of affair. We have plenty to care for—lots of healthy, fruit-bearing, life-enriching plants that need watering, nourishing, guiding, encouraging, pruning, and so forth. But the cares of this world are cares for things other than what God cares for, things that distract us from the work of the garden-kingdom rather than promoting it.

The second thorny-vine mentioned is “the deceitfulness of riches,” which is a major theme in Christ’s teaching, the rest of the New Testament, and throughout Scripture. God knows, even if we are slow to admit, money and the love of money and the lust for money—the hope and belief that more money will answer our deepest longings in life—drives a big chunk of what goes on in the world and what goes on in our lives. But such a belief and hope is deceitful, a bald-faced lie. It bears no fruit but chokes the life out of true life and leaves us bare and broken and empty. This thorny-vine must have its ugly little head clipped off every time it pokes through the surface, and its root of covetousness and envy and self-love dug up and thrown on the burn pile.

Then there are “the desires for other things.” Our chief desire and the root and stock of all other desires in our lives must be the desire to know and love and cherish God Himself and the revealed will of God in His Word. “One thing have I desired,” writes the psalmist: “That I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.” All other desires will choke out this one desire if this one desire is not cherished above all others. Guard against this and any and all other thorny-vines that threaten the fruitfulness of God’s Word in your life.

“Dear God, grant us repentance, and help us to nip in the bud all worldly cares, the love of money, our desires for worthless things, and replace them with utter devotion and love for You and Your will as found in Your Word. So we pray in Christ’s name and for His kingdom. Amen.”