I sat
in the Church yesterday Sunday 07 June
2015 listening to what massage does God have for me today as Pastor directed that
the whole congregation should open our Bible to Jeremiah 4:1-3. After the
reading, the Holy Spirit directed me to the last verse of the Bible “sow not
among thorns”
Thorns
are a consequence of Adam's transgression (Gen. 3:18). Thorns cling to clothing, fur, pierce skin, and
cause pain. Instead of providing food, thorny weeds only make more of the
same. When Jesus went to the cross bearing upon Himself the sins of the
world, a crown of thorns was pressed into his scalp.
Jesus
told a story often called "The Parable of the Sower." Matthew 13:3-9 and later in
chapter 13, He explains the meaning of the parable to His disciples. The
good seed represents the Word of God (Luke
8:11), and each place the seed is sown symbolises various conditions of
the heart. Some seed fell on stony ground while other seed fell on good
soil. There was also seed which fell among thorns which choked the
seed. Matthew 13:22 contains
Christ's explanation: "Now
he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares
of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful."
It appeared to be good ground, but there were other seeds which produced thorns
present in the soil. Thorns sprang up with the tender shoots from the
good seed and made them unfruitful.
If you have done any amount of gardening, you will have been confronted with weeds and thorn-bearing plants. I have carefully cultivated a small garden plot, bought quality topsoil and amendments, only to have more prickly weeds than vegetables! While this may be a testimony to my poor gardening, we can easily understand the point Jeremiah makes. It would be a gross waste to sow seed upon dry, hardened, unprepared, fallow ground. It would also be foolish to sow good seed among thorns because they would demand the nutrients young plants require to grow and be fruitful. A distinction between Christ's teaching and Jeremiah's exhortation is that Jeremiah makes it deeply personal. God through the prophet Jeremiah says to the people, "Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns." This is an objective statement intended to drive home the point personally: "You have unprepared hearts. The consequences of sin marks your hearts: lack of repentance, fruitlessness, hardness, and barrenness. To think that God's Word will make the slightest impact upon your hearts in your current condition is utter folly. Don't bother wasting your time unless you first humble yourself before God and repent. Prepare yourself to meet with God."
As I read this, it struck me how we can fall into the same trap as the Jews to whom God spoke through the prophet. They were God's chosen people, had been given His ordinances, and were offered fellowship with God. But they had not first prepared their hearts to receive from Him. They were caught up with the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches. The problem was not a lack of good seed or effort in scattering it, but a lack of brokenness and repentance. Their hearts were hard and the weeds - the consequences of pride, greed, unforgiveness, bitterness, and all manner of sin - grew unabated. The good will not overcome the evil if the evil is not systematically, thoroughly eradicated. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin and is the divine "Round Up" that kills sin in the very root. But if we neglect to prepare our hearts to seek the LORD, becoming resistant to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we can have a patch of thorns in our hearts which need uprooting before the good Word will have the desired effect.
Spiky weeds are an easy path to a green yard, but God wants more than green foliage: He desires fruit! When we are battling doubts, confused, or struggling with temptation, sometimes we think the answer lies in more Bible reading and listening to sermons. Unless we prepare our hearts first by breaking up our fallow ground and clearing our hearts and lives of all sin, it will profit us little if at all. Praise God that Christ is the Husbandman who gives us new hearts and renews our minds. Let us heed the good Word: plow up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns.
May the good result described in Colossians 1:10 be manifest in God's people: "...that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."
If you have done any amount of gardening, you will have been confronted with weeds and thorn-bearing plants. I have carefully cultivated a small garden plot, bought quality topsoil and amendments, only to have more prickly weeds than vegetables! While this may be a testimony to my poor gardening, we can easily understand the point Jeremiah makes. It would be a gross waste to sow seed upon dry, hardened, unprepared, fallow ground. It would also be foolish to sow good seed among thorns because they would demand the nutrients young plants require to grow and be fruitful. A distinction between Christ's teaching and Jeremiah's exhortation is that Jeremiah makes it deeply personal. God through the prophet Jeremiah says to the people, "Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns." This is an objective statement intended to drive home the point personally: "You have unprepared hearts. The consequences of sin marks your hearts: lack of repentance, fruitlessness, hardness, and barrenness. To think that God's Word will make the slightest impact upon your hearts in your current condition is utter folly. Don't bother wasting your time unless you first humble yourself before God and repent. Prepare yourself to meet with God."
As I read this, it struck me how we can fall into the same trap as the Jews to whom God spoke through the prophet. They were God's chosen people, had been given His ordinances, and were offered fellowship with God. But they had not first prepared their hearts to receive from Him. They were caught up with the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches. The problem was not a lack of good seed or effort in scattering it, but a lack of brokenness and repentance. Their hearts were hard and the weeds - the consequences of pride, greed, unforgiveness, bitterness, and all manner of sin - grew unabated. The good will not overcome the evil if the evil is not systematically, thoroughly eradicated. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin and is the divine "Round Up" that kills sin in the very root. But if we neglect to prepare our hearts to seek the LORD, becoming resistant to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we can have a patch of thorns in our hearts which need uprooting before the good Word will have the desired effect.
Spiky weeds are an easy path to a green yard, but God wants more than green foliage: He desires fruit! When we are battling doubts, confused, or struggling with temptation, sometimes we think the answer lies in more Bible reading and listening to sermons. Unless we prepare our hearts first by breaking up our fallow ground and clearing our hearts and lives of all sin, it will profit us little if at all. Praise God that Christ is the Husbandman who gives us new hearts and renews our minds. Let us heed the good Word: plow up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns.
May the good result described in Colossians 1:10 be manifest in God's people: "...that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."
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