If you have been to church as many years as I have, you’ve heard the Parable of the Sower hundreds of times. (Matthew 13:1-23) Some new angle pops out of it every time I come across it. Any Bible teacher should refer to it often, but even as Bible students, we can look at it as a warning of what will happen if we fail to tend the garden of our heart.
When the seed fell among the thorns, that was the hearer caring more for the world. (Matthew 13:22) These are people that understand what they have heard, believed it and maybe even have taken the steps to respond to it through baptism. Every Christian was in this spot when they were first baptized.
What causes the thorns? Where do they come from?
So many things can cause the seeds of the kingdom to be choked out:
- Allowing TV and Movies to influence us
- Failing to be with the church at every opportunity
- No self-reading and Bible study routine
- Poor choices of friends
- Allowing the world to guide our priorities.
The list can go on and on.
What is the thorn in your life? We all have one. Whether or not we fall to it depends on how much it is given an opportunity to grow.
Daily Bible reading for July 4
Ecclesiastes 2:24-26
Joshua 2
Zephaniah 2:4-15
Matthew 13
July 4, 2013
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