| “And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them” (Matthew 13:7). |
| Here we find a third kind of soil. It was not hard like the soil by the wayside, nor did it have big stones in it to stop the plant from making deep roots. However, there was another very serious problem. You may remember that when Adam and Eve were put out of the Garden of Eden, one of the things that God said would happen was that the ground would bring forth thorns and thistles (Genesis 3:18). Since that time we have had to pull weeds out of our gardens, for they are always there, waiting to grow. |
| Evidently there was part of the field where there were some thorns, and thorn bushes are very strong. They grow well, and will suck up all the moisture and all the nutrients in the soil where they are. Then there is nothing left for the good seed to use, and the good plants are choked out. |
| The Lord says that this is like the “care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches” (Matthew 13:22). It is interesting that the care of this world is mentioned first. Yes, riches can be deceitful, for they will never satisfy us, people can spend a lot of time trying to get rich. However, the care of this world is often a worse enemy of the gospel. Why is this? |
| It is because we have to look after some things that could be called “cares.” We have to work to earn our living, we have to manage our affairs in an orderly way, and we have to look after our homes and our cars, so that they will continue to function well for us. Just this week we had to have a repair done on our gas fireplace; it was one of the cares that I had to deal with. Last week we had to take our car in for servicing — another care. You may have projects and essays to complete for your schoolwork. That can be a care. It is easy to let all this take up so much of our time that we seem to have no time for eternal matters. Yes, we need to take responsibility in our life, but we should not let these things control us to such an extent that we have no time for what is really important. Let us be on guard, and not let either the care of this life or the deceitfulness of riches rob us of the time we need to spend on eternal matters. |
