LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Thursday 26th August 2021
SOME FELL AMONG THORNS
Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:1-23
And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. Matthew 13:7
The parable of the sower helps us to examine our hearts to see how we respond to God’s word. It is our spiritual self-assessment kit. We have to use it as a mirror to look at ourselves in the light of God’s word.
Traditionally, Christians have seen this parable as relating to how people accept the message of salvation, but it goes further than that. It also speaks to how Christians receive the word of God for their spiritual growth.
Jesus noted in the parable, that sometimes the seed of God’s word falls among thorns. The thorns were not grown on the farm when the farmer planted the seed. Before sowing, the farmer would remove all the thorns, but sometimes the thorns would leave parts of their roots or their seeds in the soil. Over time, these roots and seeds would regrow as thorns.
This shows us that sometimes, habits we think we have gotten rid of can regrow. When that happens, the seeds of God’s word planted in us, end up competing with the thorns in our lives. If that continues for a while, the unchecked thorns will outgrow and destroy the germi-nated Word of God in our lives.
Jesus likened the thorns to ‘the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches’. The cares of the world refer to our anxieties in life. The Lord wants us to trust Him with our cares; He
wants to be our burden-bearer. When we fail to trust the Lord and carry our cares on our shoulders, our cares will choke us.
The other thorn in the field has to do with how we allow money to deceive us. Money deceives both the rich and the poor. The poor think that if only they had it, they will have all the peace in the world. The rich believe that because they have it, they don’t need to depend on the Lord. Both deceptions can choke our relationship with the Lord.
The Lord wants to be our all in all, whether we are poor or rich. He must be the centre of our lives and the satisfier of all our hearts desires. When we have Him, we have all things. We must find our greatest pleasure in feeding on His word and allowing His word to form us into the kind of persons He wants us to be.
Our Lord knows all our needs and encourages us to trust Him every day for our daily bread. Let not your heart be troubled. Don’t allow the pressures of life to kill your joy for the Lord.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, you are all that I need. Help me to keep you at the centre of my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
