Distractions

I read the parable of the sower in Mark 4 earlier this week during my Bible study time.  It is one of my favorites because Jesus tells the parable and then explains the meaning of the parable a few verses later.  I don’t have to speculate on what this parable means or read human commentary on the subject because the Creator Himself explains it to me.

As I was reading the story this time, I was particularly struck by the seed sown among the thorns.  Mark 4:7 says, “Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.”  Then in Mark 4:18 – 19, Jesus explains the meaning of this sentence by saying, “Still others (people), like seed sown among thorns, hear the word, but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.”

It struck me how easy it is for me to be a seed sown among thorns.  I could become so obsessed with power, recognition and the pursuit of the almighty dollar.  Or I could become consumed with doing things like the kid’s school work or unpacking boxes or getting rid of clutter.  I could be completely controlled by the plans we have for the future, or the total lack thereof which is currently the case.  Or I could become distracted by pain, hurt, fear, worry – all of these things could take my attention.

But do you notice that these plants that grow among the thorns bear no fruit?  They have strong roots and good growth, but they become so strangled by the thorns that they don’t yield a harvest.  I don’t want to be consumed by the “worries of this world” so that “the word is choked” and I don’t bear a harvest for God’s kingdom.

My only purpose in life as a Christ follower is to show Jesus through my life so that others become Christ followers as well.  I can’t fulfill this purpose in my own strength.  Only through the power of the Holy Spirit in me can I ignore the distractions around me and be filled with God’s grace.  May my focus ever be on the life giving, harvest providing rays of the Son.

Pruning

We had a bush outside of our home in Vienna that bloomed gorgeous flowers every spring.  One of the locals called the flowers Pentecost Roses but officially I think they were peonies.  After the flowers bloomed, we always cut the bush down to almost nothing, knowing that the next spring, the flowers would be even more beautiful because we had cut the bush.  This process is called pruning.

Jesus tells us all about pruning when He shares about the Vine and the branches in John 15, but I’ve never owned a vineyard so it’s hard for me to understand His imagery.  But I know about the bush in front of my home.  I know that I use a very sharp tool to cut the branches.  I have to be close to the bush to cut the branches.  I sometimes mourn the gorgeous flowers that are cut off, but I know that it will be worth it to see next year’s blooms.  And sometimes, when spring is late, I get a little nervous that I may have cut the branches too much, and I won’t see new blooms. 

Jesus says that God is the gardener, and He will prune every branch that bears fruit so that it will be even more fruitful.  But He also reminds us over and over again in John 15 that the branches (that’s us) HAVE to remain in the Vine (that’s Jesus) or they get withered and useless, they are no longer good for bearing fruit.  Jesus says we need to remain in Him 11 times in the first 16 verses of the chapter.  He also reminds us that the branches don’t give fruit if it’s not part of the Vine.

Many of you who have grown up in the church want me to get to the point so here it is.  We often have fear when we go through pain and suffering that we are being tossed into the flame.  But that is not necessarily true.  Look back at your life.  Have you born fruit in the past?  And if you have, are you bearing it now?  If you’re not, are you still attached to the Vine?  We get so busy doing things for Jesus, that often, we no longer have time for Him.  And that’s what happened to us.  We had so much to get done for Jesus that we didn’t have time to spend getting nourishment and refreshment from the source of the fruit, the Vine. 

And now the Gardener needs to prune us.  It hurts, but the Gardener is closest to the branches when He is pruning them.  And John 15:8 is full of encouragement.  Jesus says “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”  It says that the future will be better than anything in the past because the new fruit will glorify His Father.

When one of my sweet daughters came to me in tears, missing her friends, missing her home and wondering why everything hurt so much, I was able to share with her this story about the bush in front of our Vienna home, and she understood what it meant to be pruned and the results that pruning gives.  She was comforted when she learned that God was near to us and wanted the future to be even better because it brought glory to Himself.  And I was comforted, too.