Choked with cares . . . of this life.
God’s Word often gets choked out of our lives. The Lord spoke of three things that could be responsible for this so that we become unfruitful for God. Here’s the first one: “The cares of this life.” As you get older, the daily stress and worry of life can be a real hindrance to spiritual growth. Give these cares to the Lord so that you don’t have to bear them alone. Then you can concentrate on producing fruit for God.