17/12/2010 - Get rid of the thorns!

• 
• 
• 
• 

“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.” (Matthew 13:22)

The Word of the Lord gets into our hearts with a specific purpose: to do His will. It brings within itself the necessary power for us to fulfil His instructions; however, the worldly issues, the seduction of its riches and other attractive things might choke His Word to the point of turning it into something unfruitful. Nevertheless, The Word won’t forsake us; it will stay by our side and, on the Great Day, it will make us known. So, we’d better cooperate to spread the Gospel and get rid of the thorns that prevent us from being fruitful!

The cares of this world wrestle against the Lord’s will. Yet, even though we know our stay on the Earth is very short – even though here we have the opportunity to get prepared for eternity – , it seems many don’t share the same way of thinking; on the contrary, they live as though everything would have an end when they’re dead. In fact, life will start for those who fulfil the divine commandments once they’re departed from here because they’ll be with the Lord forever. Now, those who don’t follow God’s instructions will be lost forever and will go through a great suffering.

The seduction of riches is another factor that prevents people from working for the Lord and from seeing His Word fulfilling its purpose.  Many people believe in the axiom “the more money we make, the more we want”, yet it seems they do not have the same opinion when it comes to the divine work. As soon as they do something for the Lord they start to get tired and they promptly give an excuse to take a rest – some will even cross their arms and do nothing else at all. However, it would be much better if they acted otherwise: they should be satisfied with having enough to live and they should do all their best in order to keep on being used by The Most High in order to do His work and to save the lost; that way they’d be piling up riches for the eternal life.

There are other kinds of ambition that hinder the Word from fulfilling its mission. Many individuals who’ve achieved a higher education still dedicate their so precious and scarce time only to get more knowledge of secular education. But when it comes to staying at the feet of the Lord and getting the eternal true teachings, they tend to say: “I don’t have the time”. Well, everything we’ve learnt here will cease the day we die, but the knowledge we gather of our Father will stay with us for eternity. It’s good to obtain the Food that will last forever.

There’s a group of people who, for instance, spend most of their time making all the necessary arrangements to go on a tour somewhere on the planet. They work hard to save money and then they set off to the most distant lands of the Earth – I don’t mean there’s something wrong about visiting interesting and different places. However, they do nothing when it comes to working for God; they never venture to take a missionary trip to speak of Jesus. My brethren, we must get rid of the thorns so we’ll be able to enjoy the good will of the Lord. Those who have ears let them hear what the Spirit says!

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares