Do you ever wake up in the morning and look at your calendar of what you have to do today and think to yourself, I need another couple hours to get this done? All this recent rain has my yard 1 more day away from a nastygram from the HOA reminding me of the standard of a proper yard; my day was already stacked full of work meetings only to find that overzealous coworker who sent out another meeting invite at 1am (when do these people sleep) for the only 30 minute opening I had on my calendar (knew I should have blocked that off for a fake event just to do work outside of the meetings); my daughter wants attention as soon as I get home but then again I’m expecting another email to come through that I’ll have to respond quickly and then my wife, who I barely see because of our busy lives. Do you see anything wrong with this? Probably not, since most of my peers seem to be doing the same thing when I talk to them. It seems like I’m being choked out of my own life but yet I feel that I’m doing good, or am I?
Today I was told that I might be thorny by a guy that I respect, Brian Fox (@brianfox72). He was preaching today on Matthew 13:7 “others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.” Think about that for a minute. The seeds that have been sowed came up. Yes, they came up but among the thorns. I’ve grown up got a job that I enjoy every day, a family that I love more and more every day and pressure to succeed, the thorn.
I tell myself that I’m a Christian, I attend church very regularly and I’ve been on mission trips but am I feeling a little thorny and letting the world determine my success? Reading on in Matthew 13 verse 22, “…this is the man who hears the word and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the work and it becomes unfruitful.” This message really hit home for me to make sure the seeds I’m sowing are not growing amongst the thorns. We sometimes can overlook what we see what we’ve sown is growing, but don’t look to see that it’s growing in the middle of a thorn patch. I need focus on His plan and everything else will grow accordingly. Earlier in Matthew 6:33 “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” How great is that, all you have to do is seek Him and everything else will fall into place? The seeds you sow will grow on that good soil and not have the thorns poke you.
I challenge you to spend the next week seeking Him, asking what you need to do, what you need to change, how you can sow those seeds in the good soil not the thorny.
Brian K Inman 