Too many thorns

Mark 4:18-19

¹⁸Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; ¹⁹but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.


I feel very convicted by this today. I've been feeling for a long time that I am overwhelmed by concerns and details about work. I wake up at night, I wake up early, it's almost all I think about. Some of this is stress that will be alleviated soon when my boss returns. But most of it is just concern about doing a good job and working hard for the investors who have put their trust and money in our hands.

The times I am able to focus on homelife, I find myself being consumed with the need to do chores around the house - the cleaning never ends with two preschoolers! And even when there are not chores to be done, I fill my time watching shows on PBS and playing Cities and Knights online.

For several days now, I have been feeling like although I pray a lot, there has not been very much substance to my faith. It feels meaningless and empty. I hear a voice telling me to spend more time in God's Word. Then I blow it off and read the paper or wash dishes.

This morning I woke up early. Before doing all the chores, I picked up in the book of Mark where I had left off weeks before. The verses above stopped me.

I'm surrounded by thorns. I can describe and name every one of them, and most of them I planted myself or let grow around me. I don't feel like I am producing any fruit - even in the lives of our daughters.

I want to be good, fruitful soil...