Thorns

Luke 8:14,
"And that which fell among thorns are they,
which, when they have heard, go forth, and
are choked with cares and riches and
pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to
perfection."

LUKE 8:5-14

This third type of ground is characteristic of
a large part of the Body of Christ today.

These are people who have received God's
Word, committed themselves to it to the
degree that they are able to remain faithful
in persecution, but because of being occupied
with the affairs of this life, the Word sown in
their heart is choked and no fruit is produced.

Just as weeds in a garden will steal all of
the nutrients and starve the plant, so the
pleasures of this life, if we allow them to
dominate our thinking, will stop the fruit
that the Word would have produced.

Throughout history, the Church has always
grown in size and strength during persecution.
This is because during persecution we get our
priorities straight.

We realize our life is in Jesus (John 14:6)
and not in things (Luke 12:15), and we focus
all of our attention on the Lord.

Prosperity has been far more damaging to
the Body of Christ for that exact reason.

God wants to bless His children with things
(Psalm 35:27; Matthew 6:33),
but a preoccupation with these things will
choke God's Word and make it unfruitful.

If we would follow God's formula for
prosperity found in Matthew 6:19-34,
we would have the Word bringing forth fruit
and we'd enjoy the physical blessings of this
life, too.

Jesus said that no fruit was brought to
perfection.
This type of person will exhibit some fruit,
but it will always be small and far short of
what it should be.

Do we feel frustrated because we are just
getting by and are not really experiencing
the abundant life that Jesus came to give?
(John 10:10)

We must examine our lifestyle and see if
the cares of this life, deceitfulness of
riches, or pleasures of this life could be
choking God's Word.