07 February 2011 Devotion for Today "Thorny Problems" Matthew 13: 7

07 February 2011 Devotion for Today "Thorny Problems" Matthew 13: 7

7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. Matthew 13:7

This passage takes me back to when I was a teenager. One of the first summer jobs I ever had was working on a truck farm picking produce- mostly cantaloupes and watermelons. I worked all summer for about $1.75 per hour- big money, I thought for back then! It was hot, back breaking, and tedious work. The crew would arrive early in the morning at the packing house where the crew forman would drive us out to the field that needed picking. When picking cantaloupes, we would fleece the vines looking for ripe melons, pick them, and them place them in our baskets. When the baskets were full, we would have to run and dump their contents into the back of an old truck which was slowly motoring through the field, and repeat the process again.

My fingers would get scraped and bleed even through the cloth gloves that I would wear. But sometimes I would grab a surprise cocklebur that would penetrate the glove and bite into my flesh. It happened to all of us, and we would slow production down somewhat in order to extract those thorns and burrs from our hands. It reminded me of the curse on Adam after he had sinned in the Garden when God told him in Genesis 3:

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
(Genesis 3:17-19)

In the parable of the Sower, Jesus recognizes that not all of the seed the sower scatters will land where it is supposed to. Sometimes it will land on the wayside or in the stony soil. It will also land among thorns, He says. When that happens, the seed and the thorns usually grow at the same time, making it virtually impossible, or very uncomfortable, to harvest the grain in those places. More often than not, however, the thorns and weeds will rob the plant from needed nutrients in the soil or sunlight, causing the plant to wither and die. And because of the unpleasant work that it will take to cultivate the soil and pull those nasty weeds, the sower will probably not worry too much about the seed that falls there; focusing instead on tending the fertile soil.

In the parable, the seed that falls among thorns are described as the worries and cares of this world that seems to overtake many who are exposed to the Gospel message. Many will receive it but when some of these insurmountable problems begin to creep in, the recipient will often become discouraged. Worldly habits, which are often unpleasant to extract from one's life, will overtake the growth in Christ unless that person has help to cultivate and pull out the thorns. Sometimes circumstances which require a lot of immediate focus discourages the new believer from moving forward in his faith. Sadly, his interest in the Gospel will wane away in light of all of these distractions and concerns in his life.

Like the seed which falls on the stony soil, the thorny problems and cares of this life can render our lives ineffective unless properly cultivated and discipled. Seldom will the message of Christ properly germinate unless we have someone more mature in the faith to come along side of us and encourage and keep us going In the faith. The thorny problems of life have a way of overtaking us if we are not careful. We're not usually mature enough to spot them when they come, and when we try to remove them, they hurt too much, we think, to bother with.

Do you have these thorny issues in your life that set you back? Perhaps this is God's way of telling you that you need a mature Christian friend or prayer partner to work with you and help you to keep those thorns from getting too big in your life. Thorns are everywhere, and its not only the young Christians who are susceptible to them.


Have a blessed day!