The problem of thorns

"The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced." -Mark 4

One of the things I see a lot is the distraction of the world.  It's not always the lure of good things.  Sometimes it's simply a lack we think should be part of a life pleasing God.  Often we find we are discouraged by how difficult things really are and we become unfruitful, ineffective, discouraged, disappointed.

The passage above is just one portion of the story Jesus told about the problems the world around us can cause.  For this particular illustration Jesus used thorns to describe what can keep us from being fruitful.  Thorns are painful.  They are meant to be.  They were designed to protect the host plant from animals and humans.  The pain of the prick causes us to step back, avoid the course ahead and find another way. 

The thorns Jesus mentions are these three- the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things.  Normally we don't consider these "thorns" but Jesus did because they keep us from our path, from following him.  The pain of these thorns cause us to look for another route, an easier one.  "This is just too hard" and so we look for another way.   A path where there is no pain, no thorns.

We look for a way where worry isn't a problem.

We look for wealth. (We have been told that will solve everything!)

We look for "other things" (how general is that?) 

But at the heart of each is a thorn that causes pain and forces us to find a different way.  We look for a path without pain, without thorns, where we can find happiness instead of worries, wealth instead of needs, pleasure instead of pain. 

As a result we never see fruit in our lives.  The pain of the thorns made us abandon the quest to follow Christ.  "The message is crowded out" and we forget our original quest.  The gps screams at us "recalculating..." but we lose our way because of the distractions that caused our pain.  Thorns, intended to protect the plant, can, by the pain of the encounter cause us to change our path and lose our way and ultimately never become what God had designed us to be. 

Thorns are never a sign you are on the wrong path.  In fact they may actually indicate you are right on course!  Pain is never a reason to change direction, but like the thorns in my bushes at home, they force us to find a way to deal with their pain and persevere anyway.  

Our goal?  Fruitfulness.  Don't let the pain of the thorns distract you from your quest to know God. Besides, what do they say in advertising?  No pain, no gain....awww, now we are there....with the gain of the quest there will always be the pain of the journey.  Don't let the thorns along the way ever discourage you from the quest to know Christ!  They are simply part of the trip.