"the one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the Word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. but the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the Word and understands it. he produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
matthew 13:22-23
the passage given is a good follow up to the past few days. it emphasizes the idea of reaping what you sow and the importance of being in the Word (and understanding it). these two verses are a part of Jesus' parable of the four soils. he describes four types of soil - each of us fits into one of the four categories, generally. the first is the soil beside the road. any seed that falls hear is quickly picked up by birds. the second soil is rocky where there isn't much soil. a seed may grow quickly but is scorched by the sun because it has no roots and receives no nutrients. a third type of soil is among thorns which choke out any growth of the seed. only the fourth soil, the good soil yields a crop, much more than the seed that was sown.
many of us, even those of us who have been Christians for quite some time, are like the third type of soil in which we get caught up in the thorns - worries, wealth, distractions, etc. i think in many ways i represent all four types of soil, sometimes all at once, but sometimes one at a time. like a bird, the devil can quickly and easily snatch up the faith that i have. there are times when i grow quickly out of enthusiasm (like on a retreat or missions trip), but as soon as things get difficult or i face the reality of life, it dies out. as i have admitted in the past few days, the thorns of pride prevent growth.
i don't often think about the ways in which the devil plays a part in my struggles. i forget that in a lot of ways he desires me as much as God does, without the good intentions of a loving God. david nasser points out four ways in which satan tries to destroy us: temptation, accusation, confusion, obstacles. temptation is fairly obvious, but the ways in which he tempts us rarely are. he tempts me through distractions - anything to keep my attention from where it should be, on God. television, internet (facebook), busyness, even friends at times can distract us from spending time with God. then when we give into temptation, satan uses accusations to kick us while we are down. he convinces us that we are failures and cannot possibly be loved by God because of what we have done. he distorts our view of God, convincing us that we are unlovable, that God doesn't care and can't help us. it brings about confusion. as if that weren't enough, he throws obstacles in the way. daniel is good example of this. daniel prayed for weeks to God asking for wisdom. nothing happened. after about three weeks, an angel appears to daniel and tells him that God heard his prayer and sent an angel the very first day. but satan sent a demon to stop the angel from coming. this angel and demon fought in heaven for three weeks until the angel won and appeared to daniel to guide him.
"satan doesn't give as much merit to many of us because we aren't a threat to his purpose. but if we grow strong, he will oppose us." the stronger we grow, the harder satan has to work to destroy us.
Lord, i cannot fight the battle against satan on my own. give me the strength to resist temptation, accusation, confusion and obstacles. help me to become like the good soil that reaps a harvest beyond what is sown.
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