Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them... this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. Matthew 13:7, 22
First of all, I personally want to give God the glory, for at this point, at least ONE seed sown by so many other brothers and sisters in my life took root, produced grain, a hundredfold, sixty fold, or thirty fold.
With that said, I have reason to believe that we who have benefitted from such a seed eventually help in the role of sowing seed ourselves… and that these aforementioned brothers and sisters don’t necessarily stop sowing seed after one fortuitous seed makes its way to good soil.
Just as we enjoy God’s mercies that are new every morning, here we see that the body of Christ does well for each other, continually sowing seed, being ‘filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart’ (Ephesians 5:18-19)
It’s encouraging to go through this, as I weave my way through words shared to me almost 10 years ago, and testing them, relating them to the Word and to Scripture – practicing exegesis, and trying my darndest to avoid eisegesis.
At around this point I’m being led to recall what I’ve been talking about in these recent months, especially regarding our condition versus the state of this reality we’re in.
I’ve spoken in length, drawing from Romans 4-8, regarding the complete coverage, the absolute-ness, and just the sheer all-encompassing beauty of the salvation we have, bought with the body and blood of Christ, confirmed by His resurrection and sealed by Christ’s ascent, resulting in the Holy Spirit’s descent upon us.
I keep saying that this salvation is just so much more than a simple ticket to heaven when our physical bodies expire – among other things, for purposes of what I’m writing here and now, this salvation implies that we have been set free from the Law of sin and death, and we ourselves have died to the flesh.
Now with all this said, and with what was shared, I suppose that we need to consider, that while we ARE in this world, sin and flesh remain rampant. We’ve died to it, sure, but you don’t need to look too far or too long to see the signs of this fallen, dying reality.
In other words, there are still places that seeds are sown, and are either stolen, dried up, or choked. There are still birds, and there is still rocky ground, and there are thorns.
One slight observation I thought was peculiar as I quoted that portion of Christ’s parable is that the thorns ‘choked’ the seeds – wouldn’t it be more appropriate to say that they pierced or cut them?
After all, Paul does make mention of thorns that pierce in 2 Corinthians 12:7: ‘So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited…’
Thorns do both – they choke or smother seeds to stifle any further growth; or, they pierce and agitate (as those listening to Peter in Acts 2 were ‘katanussō’ to the heart), they prick, annoy and irritate.
Later in Matthew 13 Jesus explained that these thorns are ‘cares of the world’, and ‘deceitfulness of riches’. The ESV conveniently points us to other Scripture regarding these two ‘forms’ of thorns… and, even more conveniently, sheds more light on precisely how we are relieved of them.
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:25-34
It’s no secret that I don’t have as much money as I used to have, and recently I’ve been having to take expenses a whole lot more seriously. Savings are going consistently lower because I took it upon myself to pay for the monthly utility bills, and I’m legitimately worried about how to establish a steady flow of income, just for sustaining myself and my household.
And the thought of how I’m losing what money I have is therefore constantly in my mind; I suppose it’s ‘choking’ my once clear flow of thoughts, by way of condemnation and confusion – condemnation coming primarily in the form of accusation, that I wasn’t a good steward of what inheritance was entrusted to me, and the resultant self-ridicule, which shamelessly reminds me that I’m as old as I am, with close to nothing to show on my bank account.
The cares of the world come in the form of the hassle I’m trying so hard to ignore and/or rationalize; The hassle which accompanies the social demands of being a minister – which mostly involves my giving my time and focus on others, instead of writing me. Or, maybe I’m just calling it a hassle because I insist that my priority should always be my writing. See, right there – the cares of this world are not only out to condemn me, but also to confuse me.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4-7
We praise God – I praise God, because He takes away these thorns, not by relieving me of my situation on my terms, but giving me the opportunity and privilege to see His light and life present in this dark hole I’ve brought myself into.
By the Father’s great grace, by Christ the Son’s finished work, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we’re reminded, even in the lowest of lows, of the opportunity and privilege to seek God’s kingdom, to seek God’s righteousness – We’re reminded that even in these times when we are left alone by the world, we REMAIN and will ALWAYS be in right standing with God, much so that we can call Him our Father…
…and by this same Truth we’re able to take a step beyond the anxiety; In these times, the Body of Christ, myself included – we have the opportunity and privilege to pray. To be precise, ‘in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving (we) let (our) requests be made known to God.’
9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
1 Timothy 6:9-10
Around August this year, the capital I had in one venture which I thought would be a vital lifeline for me was almost wiped out in a matter of days. Apparently they don’t call August the ‘ghost month’ for nothing – I’ve seen firsthand how investing or making financial/business decisions during this time are, well, jinxed.
I’m sorry, I suppose I shouldn’t be so open about all of this – All the ‘masculine’ accounts I’ve been following consistently tell us that it it’s ‘beta’ for us to share our weaknesses for others to exploit.. but the joke wouldn’t be on me – it’s not really to shine light on me, but to bring anyone and everyone who does come upon all of this, to consider the saving grace of Christ – the goodness of God that leads all (myself included, as I also write and indirectly read this) to repentance.
I say that I was ‘almost’ wiped out… thankfully, I pulled the plug before I lost everything, and I did what I could with the capital I had left. I’m definitely deep in the red but I’m still on my way back out. Unfortunately, I had to be a little more aggressive and reckless to grow back what I had left; I did what seasoned people in the industry call ‘revenge’ moves, decisions made more irrational by bitterness and spite.
Looking back, I WAS reckless with whatever I had, being easy prey to investment offers with ‘reasonable’ ROI/monthly return rates – a lot of that was wasted in Crypto that suddenly fell in value or just flat out rug-pulled… I wasn’t necessarily having ‘the love of money’ by way of being greedy, but I certainly was being pierced, being pricked by the deceitfulness of riches.
17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
1 Timothy 6:17-19
For the longest time I’ve been thinking, or giving into the thoughts we have today; even seemingly virtuous thoughts regarding how money grants us freedom, about how money gives us more options to take in situations, and so on. Now that I think about it they’re all technically just promoting an unnatural love for money, putting the tool of money on a pedestal that, honestly, is reserved only for God.
Here, I’m reminded simply of what we exhort oftentimes during offertory – that it is better for us to give than to receive. Whatever we spend on investments is not guaranteed to come back to us; but what we invest in others (out of a cheerful and generous heart) is ‘a good foundation for the future’.
I’m reminded of Christ, who gave up His heavenly throne, and gave up everything in this reality – down to the garments of His back, His dignity, His body, His blood, EVERYTHING – not for MORE; No, He lay EVERYTHING down for us.
It’s Christ who prayed for us first. It’s Christ who loved us and lay His life down for us, first.
And here and now, I’m reminded of what really matters.
I’ve been focusing and living according to what my hand isn’t holding, and according to what my head tells me I don’t have. But, praise God – praise God, indeed! For it is in these times that I’m reminded – Through the Father’s grace, through Christ’s finished work, and by the Holy Spirit, we may not hold anything, but we have a scepter; we may be anxious about the thoughts in our head, of condemnation and of lack, but we have been crowned just the same.
We will ALWAYS represent the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, we will ALWAYS bear, appreciate and promote the ministry of reconciliation; We may hold nothing, but we hold the righteousness and reconciliation, which will always lead us out of anxiety, to prayer – with supplication and thanksgiving.
We may be constantly pierced and tormented by the words and curses of the world, but above all, we project the salvation that comes through Christ alone, which allows us to give, even when the world thinks we have nothing.
We may be choked, but we still pray.
We may be agitated, but the grace and goodness of God continues to shine in our lives.
In righteousness, may we continue to sing for joy, and shout with a voice of triumph… and let us not be surprised if the solid walls that hinder us break, torn down by our Savior, the King of Kings. And by the sufficient grace of God, may the thorns be taken away from piercing our hearts.
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. For by His only begotten Son, who once bore a crown of thorns, we ourselves have been crowned with His glory, and we have been handed over His grace.
May we heed the wisdom and glory of our loving Father, now and always. May He be glorified in everything that involves us, now and forever… in the glorious name of Jesus, amen.
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