THE SPIRITUAL BATTLE – 17 The Good Vs Thorny Soil

The God Soil

Loved ones, the devil glories in “thorny” soil in our Spiritual Battle. In His parable about the man who sowed seed, Jesus said that some of the seed “fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold” (Matthew 13:8). KJV

Later, in explaining the parable to His disciples, the Lord told what He meant by “good” soil. This type of ground represented a certain quality of person—the one who readily listens to the word (symbolized by the seed) and understands it (Matthew 13:23).

Mark describes the good soil as those who “receive or accept” the seed (Mark 4:20), while Luke characterizes the fruit-producing soil as those who have “an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it…” (Luke 8:15).

A consideration of these passages clearly indicates that in order to become a citizen in Christ’s kingdom, one must have a disposition amenable to the truth, indeed, a love for truth (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12).

One of the great examples of this sort of “open mindedness” was found in the people of Berea, a city visited by Paul on his second missionary campaign. Luke described them as follows:

“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).

There are three terms in this passage that illustrate the “good ground” attitude.

First, Luke says they “received” the word. The verb signifies to welcome, to receive eagerly.

Second, they possessed a “readiness of mind. “Actually, this reflects only one word in the original, prothumia (pro – “forward,” and thumos – mind). The word beautifully pictures a sort of stretching the mind forward in keen anticipation.

Third, there is the present participle, “searched or examining” (anakrino – an intensified term meaning to scrutinize carefully), the tense suggesting persistence.

Most serious believers in Jesus as the Son of God are striving to be that good soil. However, Satan uses a most successful tool in his overflowing thorn bush. Even the apostle Paul struggled with his “thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan…” (2 Corinthians 12:7).

The Thorny Soil

“7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them… 22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful” (Matthew 13:7, 22).

“I’M TOO BUSY.” If there were a universally agreed upon anthem for our modern Christian or non-Christian world, this would surely be it. It seems that everyone is always too busy. There is always too much to do and not enough time in which to do it. How many times have we made or heard pleas for there to be more than 24 hours in a day, or for time to stop for a moment so we can get “caught up”?

Part of our difficulty involves the unprecedented number of people and things that compete for our time. Employers are demanding more hours and work out of employees. Depending on our phase of life, our parents, children, and/or spouses place demands on our time.

There is the ever-present computer with Facebook, Twitter (X), TikTok, blogs, e-mail, games, and a thousand other ways of spending time. Not to be outdone, television and movies and other forms of entertainment also beckon.

Beyond all of these are sports activities, book reading, indoor and outdoor maintenance, and all sorts of other activities. Little wonder, then, that we never have any time!

Many of the purveyors of entertainment and other forms of distraction are quite aware of how busy we are, and so they work diligently to gain our attention. Forms of entertainment become more sophisticated and designed to draw you in and keep you watching or playing.

News programs and politicians often use various scare tactics to attract your attention and support for their cause. All of these tactics are very seductive and very hard to resist!

While the quantity of distractions and forms of entertainment today might be unprecedented, the root problem is not.

As Jesus presents the parable of the Sower, He describes the third type of soil as the “thorny soil.” The thorny soil is full of thornbushes and other weeds. In such ground, the Sower’s seed cannot take root and grow, for it is outmuscled by the weeds.

Notice that the problem here is not the soil quality in and of itself, as it was with the “wayside” soil and the “rocky” soil. The soil is not the problem – the competitors for that particular patch of soil are the problem! If the competitors – the thorns – were removed, the seed would grow and multiply.

Jesus goes on to say that the thorny soil represents those people who hear the Word of God and believe it, but the cares of this world, the desire for riches, and various lusts and pleasures choke out the Word, and it becomes unfruitful (Matthew 13:22, Mark 4:19, Luke 8:14).

We see this often when we present the Word of God to others. As statistics show, the majority of Americans believe in God, Jesus, and even His resurrection. Therefore, they know that God exists. They know that Jesus exists and that He is Lord. Many such people know that they should probably be assembling with Christians somewhere and should be serving the Lord more faithfully.

And then there is THE “BUT.” They know they should follow God, BUT there is not enough time. They should assemble with Christians, BUT they have to work, or Sunday morning is their only time to rest and relax or spend time with family, or it is the time for a given sporting event or other form of entertainment.

They know that they should devote themselves to God, BUT there is always something in the way – money, health, entertainment, sports, even family and friends.

Jesus’ image of the thorns is very apt, for it gets to the heart of the problem. As said previously, the problem is not with the soil but with the competition for the soil.

The difference, then, between “thorny” soil and “good” soil is not the soil itself but the cultivation thereof. The invasion of the “thorns” is an ever-present danger, and great care must be taken to cultivate the ground to clear away the thorns so as to allow the seed to grow and multiply.

This speaks to the need for priorities. No one can assume that time will automatically be made for God and spiritual things. As with all things, we must make time.

Left on our own we will succumb to the temptation to play around more on the Internet, watch another TV show, or do a thousand other things. We must decide to make God the priority – to make His Kingdom and His righteousness the most important thing in our life (Matthew 6:33; cf. 2 Peter 1:5-13).

We must hasten to add that not all of these “thorns” are inherently evil. In fact, there are many “good” things with which we can fill our time – our family, our friends, employment, helping others, etc. – but even these “good” things can distract us from the ultimate good – God and His Kingdom.

We must first serve Christ – and then reflect Christ to our family, at work, and in other realms of life (Ephesians 5:21-6:9). God must be first and foremost.

There have always been and will always be a lot of people who know that God exists and that they need to do better at following after Him BUT remain distracted by money, cares of the world, and various pleasures. They have just as much potential for good in promoting God’s purposes as those who are the “good” soil if only they would clear out the weeds and focus on the Word of God.

The thorns, however, are an ever-present danger. If we are not careful, even if we begin as good soil, we can allow the thorns to move in, becoming distracted with worldly lust, cares, and concerns, and prove to be unfruitful in the end.

Too many people, upon looking back at their lives, realize just how much time was wasted on what ultimately proved to be vain and futile. Some are fortunate enough to have come to repentance before the end and simply lament all the time that they could have done great things for God BUT were too busy with themselves and the cares of this world.

Sadly, for too many, this realization will come too late, with bitter tears and lamentation, as they hear of their doom (Matthew 7:21-23).

It is never too late to clear out the thorns and to cultivate the good soil to receive the seed – let us all remove the distractions of the world (cf. Matthew 6:24) and make God and His righteousness the ultimate priority in our lives!

Shared with you by Samuel A. Matthews, preaching with the Liberty NW church of Christ, meeting in Portland, Oregon, USA. The God of Heaven and Earth is so good, and His love reaches all. He is in control, so trust Him. We love you with the love of the Lord (John 13:34-35).