The Growth of the Seed : The Four Hearts in Matthew 13:3-23
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The Anxiety of the Age and the Deceitfulness of Riches
The thorns signify two things: the anxiety of the age and the deceitfulness of riches. The anxiety of the age refers to things which are legal and which we need to survive. Even legal things become thorns when they preoccupy us. This is why the Lord told us not to be anxious over such matters as food and clothing (Matt. 6:31). He knows our needs and will take care of us. After the legal things, there is something further. This is called the deceitfulness of riches. After we have what we need, we often want something better. The Lord provided us a house, but we want a better house. The Lord provided us a car, but we want a better car. We think that this is normal, but it is actually very deceitful. These riches themselves are deceitful. They are like thorns which are living and waiting to choke the healthy growth. Everything that we seek after is trying to cheat us, but for some reason we think that it is normal. "I should live in a certain kind of house. I should drive in a certain kind of car." These are all deceitful. If the Lord provides us something, we should take it. If we have the leading of the Lord to purchase something, we should buy it. But if we say, "That's it! That's what I want!" then that becomes the deceitfulness of riches.
The third kind of heart, the ground with thorns, is make up of two items. First there is the anxiety of this age. This age makes us anxious for too many things, including many needs which are legitimate. Everyone on this earth must handle the necessities for their living. This produces the anxiety of the age. We should handle this anxiety by trusting in the Lord and His provision, and by being restful concerning all our needs. Then secondly, even after our needs are fulfilled, there is the deceitfulness of riches. Riches come in to deceive us. None of us can bypass this. Everyone on this earth desires to upgrade the quality of their living. So we must learn to be before the Lord. "I have Christ. I walk with Christ, and I enjoy the Lord's presence. Wherever I am, and whatever I have, I am totally satisfied." Such an exercise before the Lord will deal with all the thorns. This will cause us to have the fourth kind of heart, the good earth.
Responding to the First Three Kinds of Hearts
Before we come to the good earth, we must remember how to respond to the first three conditions of the heart. We should learn not to let our heart be hardened by a lot of traffic. To keep our heart from being rocky and shallow, we should not love ourselves, insist on our self-life, nor allow offenses to accumulate. To deal with the thorns, which are preoccupying curses, we should be satisfied with Christ and His provision for us. The rocks are inward, and the thorns are outward. The rocks within us prevent the Lord from having room to grow. The thorns outside of us bring us into anxiety or deceitfulness and choke the healthy growth. So there are three kinds of hearts: those with traffic, those with rocks, and those with thorns. These three kinds of hearts all apply to us. We must be before the Lord about each condition within us.
...cont'd on page 5
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