Key scripture – “Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.” Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear” (Mark 4:1-9).

Mark Chapter 4 discusses the time that Jesus sat down in a little boat by the seashore and talked about a farmer who dropped seeds into the dirt. Same seed, different soil, different results. Four to be exact.

Pastor Charles Swindol points out that some seeds fell beside the road . . . the birds gobbled them up. A few seeds fell on rocky ground . . . the sun scorched the rootless growth, and they withered and died. Other seeds fell among thorns . . . which choked out the growth so severely there was no crop to harvest. Still other seeds fell into good soil . . . bumper crop. Then Jesus explained each point.

First, He said, the seed represents “the word.” “The farmer sows the word.” (Mark 4:14). I believe we’re safe in saying that “the word” refers to truth. God’s truth.

Second, the different soils represent people’s varied responses to that “word.” All four “hear,” but not all reap a harvest. That’s significant. Hearing guarantees nothing. Next, the results are directly related to the condition of the soil . . . not the quality of the seed. If you look closely, you’ll see that the first two groups lack roots. Only with the last two groups does Jesus mention fruit.

Jesus explained the parable and said, “Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.” (Mark 4:15-20).

It is obvious that the first two groups of people are without spiritual life. No roots, no fruit, no growth, no change whatsoever. The third group hears, but only the fourth group “hears the word and accepts it,” resulting in strong, healthy growth. It’s the third group that is intriguing. These people hear everything the fourth group hears. But those truths are not really accepted, allowed to take root, and grow. Instead, the thorns “choke the word and it becomes unfruitful.”

Thorns that choke? What are they? Jesus doesn’t leave us in the dark. They are “the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things” (Mark 4:19).

The term “worry” is derived from the old German word wurgen, which means “to choke.” By extension, the word came to denote “mental strangulation” and, finally, to describe the condition of being harassed with anxiety. Worry begins as a thin stream trickling through our minds. If entertained, it cuts a deeper channel into which other thoughts are drained.

But the third species of thorns is the killer: “the desires for other things.” It’s the picture of discontentment, the plague of pursuit: pushing, straining, stretching, relentlessly reaching, while our minds become strangled with the lie “enough just isn’t enough.”

Jesus closed off His brief talk with that familiar line, “He who has ears, let him hear” (Mark 4:9). When the thorns of life scratch us, we need the pruning shears of the Word to clear our minds.

Are you allowing a stream of doubt and worry to constantly run through your mind? Have you noticed how all your good thoughts drain into your worry?

If so, you need to take those thoughts captive and put them under the obedience of Christ and replace them with what God says about you and your situation. “For the weapons of our warfare are not physical weapons of flesh and blood, but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, Inasmuch as we refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ the Messiah, the Anointed One.” (2 Corinthians 10: 3-5 AMP).

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, I will not let “the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things” choke out Your Word. I want to be fruitful and multiply and produce a bumper crop for Your Kingdom. In order to do that I will take every thought captive and put it under the obedience of Jesus. When doubt, fear, worry, deceit, and the desires of this world try to creep in, I will run to Your Word and pray without ceasing until they are gone. When I start to preach silent sermons of fear, doubt and worry to myself in my head, I will immediately stop, and instead start preaching Your Precious, Comforting, Loving Word to myself, and focus on what You say about me not what Satan says about me. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.