The Growth of the Seed : The Four Hearts in Matthew 13:3-23
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The Third Heart: The Heart with Thorns
In the second heart, the heart with the rocky places, it is difficult for the seed to grow. However, it is very easy for thorns to grow. Thorns need very little dirt to grow in. We have just seen that when we love ourselves too much we can have a rocky heart with shallow ground. That shallow ground can then become the next kind of heart, which is like a field filled with thorns. What are the thorns? Thorns signify a curse, because they grew after God cursed the ground (Gen. 3:17-18). The third kind of heart is one that is preoccupied with all kinds of curses. Then the Lord told us specifically that the thorns signify the anxiety of this age and the deceitfulness of riches (Matt. 13:22). This means that everything we like, and everything we pursue, can actually become a curse to us. Thorns grow very fast, and choke whatever is healthy. Thorns are alive, but their life is a cursed life. When thorns grow in our heart it means that we are preoccupied with all kinds of curses.
What determines whether something is a curse or not? It is based on whether we know how to put it aside. A car, for example, is not a curse by itself. The Lord can provide us with a car as a blessing. But when we struggle for a car and become preoccupied with it, then it becomes a curse. Whatever we are preoccupied with becomes a curse to us. We do need certain things in our human life. First we need a family. Then we need a house. We need a car. We need a career. We need a bank account. All of these are normal. For any human being, these are normal. We should have these things and enjoy them. But when we are preoccupied with them, they become a curse. For example, we don't need to fight for a house. God will provide us with one. To live in a house is normal, because we need a place to stay. But when we struggle for a house, then it becomes a preoccupying curse.
A person who is preoccupied cannot grow properly before the Lord. We must realize that the Christian life is a life joined to Christ. "He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:17). Our life is a life in the spirit. The Lord leads us, strengthens us, comforts us, and stands with us in our spirit. In our spirit, there is a restfulness, there is a peacefulness, and there is joy. So in our spirit we should be restful before the Lord. We do not need to be preoccupied. When we are restful in the Lord, then the thorns will not grow, because we will not be preoccupied with anything.
Thorns have a form of life. They may even be green, which is a color of life. They may seem quite harmless. But when the thorns grow in a field they quickly choke whatever is growing nearby. Everything that should grow cannot grow because the thorns are there. It is significant that the thorns are often green. This should scare us. The thorns have life. Many times brothers feel defensive when they want something in the world. They say, "This is just the normal human life. What's wrong with it?" What they are seeking for may be normal, but if they are preoccupied with it, it has become thorns to them. It has become something living to choke what is good in them. Anything which becomes a preoccupation, no matter how normal it seems, will choke the normal process of growth.
...cont'd on page 4
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