Saints,
we all must go through the thorns; it is part and parcel with spiritual
transformation -- our wilderness experience -- but we are not supposed to live
there. Thorns are tools of deception, and deception is, literally, mental
blindness. The thorns of this world create toe-holds in our heart, places we
have given to the enemy... doors of access. At first we struggle, then we
acquiesce, then we embrace our love for “other things”, the things of this
life. It is, ultimately, our lust that bates and ensnares us. This is how we
fall away... one thorn at a time, till we are so thorny we no longer perceive
God. “Those who live according to the
flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh” having an earth-bound
mindset, what the Apostle Paul called walking according to the flesh...
carnally minded and under the law of sin and death: The Sower Parable (Matt. 13:22; Lk.
8:14; Mk. 4:18, 19; Rom. 8:1-11) describes four specific categories of thorns:
“Desires For Other Things”: “Other things” here are not Kingdom things. This is materialism warring to draw our
desires away from spiritual things.
“Desires” is the Greek word eipthumia and means to desire greatly,
longing, lust and strong passion in the mind... a lusting mindset. In (1 Jn.
2:16) it is the lusts of the “eyes”, “flesh”, and “pride” in opposition to
Jesus’ command “do not love the world or the things in the world” (vs. 15).
“Deceitfulness Of Riches”: Wealth and the power it produces are addictive. “Deceitfulness” is the Greek word apate and
means deceptive, seducing propensities which induce to sin and lead to
disappointment. Remember the camel and the eye of a needle: This is talking
about a real camel and a real sewing needle.
“Cares Of The World”: “Cares” is a synonym of the Greek word for worry, the most prevalent sin of the 21st
century church. The anxiety of worry brings disruption to mind, heart, soul and
spirit, driving away the peace of God, and causing sickness and disease. Worry
is unbelief pure and simple, and habitual worry is to treat our Savior’s
sacrifice as a common thing, insulting the Spirit of grace.
“Pleasures Of Life”: “Pleasures” is the Greek word hedone which means sensual pleasure,
physical gratification, enjoyment, lust, and in a broader sense the desire for
pleasures. James speaks of our “desire
for pleasures” that war in our bodies (James 4:1-3), and Paul speaks of the
ungodly in the last days as “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2
Tm. 3:4), showing pleasure seeking to be enmity against God.
Thorn
cluttered hearts divide our mind, distracting us from God’s purposes while
leaving us worried, unstable and anxious. Thorny hearts may have good
intensions but they are deceived, thinking they can co-habitat -- abide in
Christ and abide in the world -- the very thing Christ died to save us
from. Thorns “choke the Word”, suffocate
the Christlife within...
The
“Thorny Heart” is a picture of twenty-first century Christian life... fruitless
Self serving lives enamored with life in this world. Saints are not supposed to
stay in the thorn bushes, but merely travel through them, being in the world
but not partakers of the world. The only antidote for “thorns” is transformation,
the willingness to die to Self submitting to Christ’s Lordship, and be renewed
in mind... reflecting the passionate desires of God’s heart. Christlikeness,
the goal of all true saints, is an outward reflection of an inner reality, a replacement process where we reckon bits of our Self nature dead and
Christ replaces those pieces with bits of His nature. A heavenly mindset keeps this goal in sharp focus
while giving no “place”, or toe-hold, for thorns or any “lusts” to spring up in
our mind. People of “One Thing” have
made God the centerpiece of their heart... their mind... and their existence. “Come
out from among them and be ye separate.” People of One Thing no longer dwell in
Thornland!
“COME OUT FROM AMOUNG THEM,
AND BE YE SEPARATE”
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