| Devotional Hours with the Bible |
Chapter 19 |
Page 4 |
Another class is described as “they that are sown among the thorns.” The soil had not been properly cleansed. The old roots had not been dug out. The ground was good enough, and the seed good; but the thorns grew too, as rankly as, even more rankly than, the wheat. What are some of these thorns? Jesus says they are the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches. Cares are anxieties, distractions, and worries. Martha was in danger of having the good seed in her heart choked out by her distracting thoughts concerning her household affairs. Worry is always a peril. Many people have all the good of God’s grace in them choked and destroyed by frets and anxieties which they allow to get into their hearts. Many a businessman loses Christ in anxiety about his business affairs. It is no wonder there are so many warnings in the Bible against worry. Then, as for the deceitfulness of riches, thousands of lives have been starved into ghostly spiritual leanness by desire for wealth. The point to be kept in mind is that the love of Christ in the heart and the Christian graces are in danger of being choked out by other affections springing up in the same soil.
The seed on thorny ground is not altogether killed — the growths are so sapped and dwarfed that they bring no wheat to maturity. The wheat amid the thorns grows, but becomes pale and shriveled, yielding no good ripe wheat. Sit it is in the Christian life which the thorns are permitted to grow. There are fruits of the Spirit, but they are shriveled and feeble. Men and women may go on working in the church, teaching, preaching, praying, giving; but the life is not healthy and vigorous. The lesson is the importance of the cultivation of the heart after the good seed has been sown in it. We need to keep our hearts with all diligence and to watch the very beginnings of evil in them. We need to, without remorse, cast out anything that threatens our religion. Sometimes God Himself does the weeding. He takes away the wealth that was choking the spiritual life. He lifts out of the bosom the earthly object that is absorbing all the heart’s love. The process is painful, but the results are full of blessing.
The fourth kind of soil is the “good ground” — “such as hear the word, and receive it, and bear fruit.” The word is received with attention, thought, faith, and prayer. Thus it is kept in the heart, as rich soft soil receives the wheat seed. No birds can pick it away. It settles down deep into the life, no underlying rock hindering its rooting and growth. The soil is diligently watched, no thorn being allowed to spring up to choke out the golden wheat. Thus the good seed of the word has opportunity to grow and to bring forth fruit. The heavenly teachings that are received into the heart reappear in the character, in the conduct, dispositions, act, spirit, and service.
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