A Fruitful Life - Part 6

The Word of God always brings forth good fruit for the person who tends to the soil of their heart and consistently waters the seed.  

We are now in part 6 in our series "A Fruitful Life."  We have completed our teaching on the first two soils that Jesus mentions in this parable and now we are beginning to look at the third ground.  The third type of ground that is mentioned by Jesus is found in Matthew 13:22 which states - Matt 13:22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. NKJV  

This verse gives us a clear picture of another type of soil that the Word of God does not get the opportunity to produce fruit in.  This is ground where the Word of God is sewn but it has to try and grow among thorns.  The Word of God will be choked out by the thorns if they are not removed.  The word choked actually carries the idea of suffocating.  God's Word needs room to spread out and breath in order to produce healthy fruit.  

In this blog I just want to deal with the first of the two things mentioned here in verse 22. This Scripture shares with us that "the cares of this world" causes the Word of God to be unfruitful.  

So what are the cares of this world?  This phrase can be defined as the anxieties and distractions of the age.  The word "cares" means drawing in different directions.  Jesus said in Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.  The cares and anxieties of this life are designed to draw you away from your focus on the promises of God.  They are designed to seed thorns in the garden of your heart.  These thorns then grow with the promises of God and end up choking out the fruit from God's Word.  Jesus is telling us that we need to see the cares of this life as a threat to the fruitfulness of the Word of God in our lives.  

The question then becomes, how do I stop  these cares from choking out the promises of God in our lives?  First, we must practice 1 Peter 5:7 (AMP) which states, "Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.  We do this by refusing to worry about anything.  Many times believers see this as impossible but the reality is we can choose to refuse!  The best way to begin this process is through the words of our mouths.  Simply put, when worries, anxieties and cares come in thought or circumstance you immediately open your mouth and declare, "I refuse to worry or have any anxiety about this situation."  "I declare the promises of God concerning this problem and I praise God that He is working on this situation for me, it is in His hands."

Let's purpose to refuse the cares of this life in order that we may live a fruitful life in Christ!!

Pastor Sean