Luke 8:11-15

Ignite IBS
   Luke 8:11-15
11 Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. 12 Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, recieve the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time for temptation fall away. 14 The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.

When I read these verses, they all paint a picture in my head. Now I could sit here and type on them all day, but if you read them, I'm sure you can paint your own picture. What I'm gonna focus on is verse 14. "The seed which fell among the thorns" That really caught my attention. I think there's so many times that we fall into the wrong crowd or start hanging out with the wrong friends. Just think of a seed landing in the thorns. Yea it might get a little sunlight, some dirt under it, and an occasional rain. But it will only grow so much. The thorns will constrict its growth. Now put that into a human perspective. We have the seed (God) planted in our heart and it's starting to grow, and then we fall among the thorns (bad influences wether it be people, music, pornography, you fill in the blank.) The thorns in our life constrict our growth closer to God. So the question is this: What are your thorns? What's restricting your growth towards God? Don't expect to have an answer right away. It took me a few days to realise that music was becoming my thorn. Pray about it, talk to God, and find your thorn. After all they bring no maturity.

Application.
Tonight I'm going to talk to Chris about thorns that he has removed from his life to get here.