"And
the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the
word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the
word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Insights: This person lives for the cares of this world
and are deceived by its riches.
They
are living for the mundane which consists of their career, home, wardrobe,
prestige and image. Because of this
duplicitous lifestyle these people hear the gospel, but they never have their
soil cleaned out by Jesus’ forgiving grace.
The world is still there for them and they are blinded by the trappings
of money. It was for this reason in
another location that Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and money…you will either
hate the one and love the other or despise the one and cling to the other.” It was for this reason John wrote, “If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” You can't be that double-minded man. The soil that is going to produce the fruit
must be cleansed of that stuff and that is why I'm convinced that true
salvation only occurs where there is true repentance. We must be willing to deal with the sin in
our lives and turn from it and follow Jesus daily. This soil is good soil, but it is impure
because of the thorny weeds. A person
who wants the Word of God and wants everything else is not truly born
again. They have never received the gift
of salvation from Jesus. The ground has
only got so much to give, because there is only so much nourishment there. If the soil is trying to support all of the
weeds, then the seed isn't going to survive.
Often times people say this type of person has lost their salvation, but
what Jesus is really saying here is they never had it to begin with. What is the mark of salvation in this parable? The answer is fruit. In John fifteen we are told, if you don't
bear fruit, He cuts you off and burns you. That's hell for people who are
fruitless because not being on the vine means one is not saved. It is the fruit bearing that marks the
salvation. A true believer manifests fruit. And that takes us to the last soil
which we will examine tomorrow. Remember,
this parable is to encourage us in this church age to recognize there will be
people that are duplicitous in their hearing of the gospel.
Questions:
- Are you one who is truly in love with this world and
pretending to be a follower of Jesus?
- Are you willing to ask God to purge your life of its love for this temporal world?
Prayer: Father, let my
heart be wholly Yours. I do not want
anything to hinder my walk and relationship with You. May my heart be pure and not duplicitous in
nature. Amen.
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