The Sower
Parable depicts four heart conditions, the way we respond to life… lifestyles
by choice. One of these is life in the thorn bushes.
Deception is,
literally, mental blindness. The thorns of this world create toe-holds in our
heart, patches of ground we have given to the enemy, doors of access. At first
we struggle, then we acquiesce, then we embrace “the cares of this world”, and
our desire for “pleasure”, “riches”, and the “other things”, the nonspiritual
things of this life. Under control of Self -- our unregenerate carnal fleshly
nature -- the impulse of desire in the human heart seizes the enticements of
the world, holding them fast, giving birth to sin. It is, ultimately, our own
desires that entice us, bating the trap that ensnares us. This is how we fall
away... one thorn at a time, till we are so thorny we no longer perceive God,
literally suffocating the Christ-Life like a flame deprived of oxygen.
Thorn pricks
are the direct result of misplaced love: “Do not love or cherish the world or
the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the
Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh
[craving for sensual gratification] and the lust of the eyes [greedy longings
of the mind] and the pride of life [assurance in one’s own resources or in the
stability of earthly things]—these do not come from the Father but are from the
world itself.”
God commands
our love and measures it by our obedience: “And you shall love the LORD your
God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all
your strength … If you love Me, keep My commandments. For this is the love of
God, that we keep His commandments … The person who has My commands and keeps
them is the one who really loves Me; and whoever really loves Me will be loved
by My Father, and I [too] will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself
to him. I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him
... And the world passes away and disappears, and with it the forbidden
cravings (the passionate desires, the lust) of it; but he who does the will of
God and carries out His purposes in his life abides (remains) forever.”
DON’T YOU WANT TO LIVE FOREVER…
(Reference: The Sower Parable; Read all three Gospel
passages to get the whole story; James 1:12-16; John 14:21 and 1 Jn. 2:15-17 in
the Amplified Bible; Mk. 12:30; JN. 14:15; 1 Jn. 5:3)
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