A Compilation of Grace

Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Matthew 13:3-9 NKJV

This parable is told in the broader sense of the field being the world (the hearts of the people of the world), but it can also be looked at as the field being an individual. The Bible speaks of our hearts as being fields. At any point in our lives, we can have one or more of the soil types described in our hearts.

The Difficulty of Thorns

The thorny ground is covered with brambles. These are competing plants that choke out the desired plants that are sown. Thorn bushes are not easy to get rid of. Besides the prickly thorns that make them difficult to pull, they are tenacious.

We have a field that we used to run cattle and sheep on, as well as harvesting hay. When that field was no longer being used, it soon became overrun with blackberry bushes. These bushes have been sprayed and mown down many times, but they always come back. We have also been fighting a small blackberry vine that keeps trying to grow by our front sidewalk. Even though it has been sprayed and pulled up, it keeps coming back because some of the roots are left behind.

The Thorny Ground Explained

All of the gospels describe the thorns as the worries, wealth, and life’s gratifications (enjoyments/desires) crowding and choking the word and making the plant unfruitful—or the fruit not growing to maturity. This is a theme from the beginning of Creation. Genesis 3:6 (HCSB) says this, “Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” Jesus also experienced these same temptations when he was in the wilderness.

1 John 2:15-17 (MSG) warns, “Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.” (Emphasis added to Scriptures.)

All of these things are easy to become entangled in, but are often difficult to be free of.

Caught in the Thorny Vines

I always wanted to consider myself an honest person. For years though, I struggled in one area with lying. It was never about anything “big.” In fact, it was usually over something inconsequential and “stupid.” Always it was about making myself look better to whoever I was interacting with—in other words, the pride of life.

For example, I was talking to someone about a book that I’d liked in grade school and had recently purchased to read to my sons. Sometime later, she asked me how we’d enjoyed the book. As I went to say that we hadn’t started it yet, out slipped the lie of how good the book was (making certain to never directly saying that we’d actually read it). For some ridiculous reason, I thought admitting we hadn’t started the book yet would make me seem less in her eyes. All of this happened in a split second in my mind. There was only the briefest hesitation between the truth and what actually came out of my mouth. I even tried to justify my answer with the thought that I actually had read and enjoyed the book even though it was years ago.

In the end, I had to humble myself and apologize to her for my lie. When I did, I found out that she hadn’t given the conversation a second thought. While I, in the meantime, had suffered and stewed for weeks over the lie. The true answer to the question would not have changed her idea of me one bit, but the false answer and subsequent confession could have.

Finding the Roots

For some time, God had been convicting me of this sin issue of lying. I kept ignoring the whisper, until one day I couldn’t. God has called me to speak the truth—to speak his truth. The thorny vine of lying was trying to choke that out. The vine couldn’t just be cut down, it had to be dug out at the root.

I asked God to show me where the root of lying came from. Its roots were pride and fear. I am a competitive person (even with myself). I wanted to be seen as (my) “best” or at least “as good as.” I don’t like feeling put down or looked at as less than. That stems from comparison. The fear was of looking foolish in front of others and a fear that I wouldn’t be liked/loved for who I am.

Then I said, “Lord, it feels true that if I don’t protect myself with these lies that people will see me as less—in a bad light. What do you say about this, Father?”

God spoke to my heart that honesty will shine far brighter. Most of these things don’t matter anyway, and you are the only one hurt by the lies—more than by people’s opinions if you spoke the truth.

Removing the Thorny Vines

So, I asked God to forgive me for agreeing with the spirits of lying, pride, and fear—also, for looking to other sources for protection and to other people for commendation when he is the only one who can truly protect me and whose commendation is all that matters. I broke agreement with the lie that by lying I could put myself in a better light before people, that I needed to promote myself, or that I needed to appear a certain way to be liked/loved.

Then I asked, “Jesus what do you want to give me in place of these—the lying, pride, and fear?

In place of lying, speaking the truth in love.

In place of pride, humility, and a true estimation of my value in God.

In place of fear, joy in knowing that I am my heavenly Father’s beloved daughter.

I thanked God for taking back the ground from the thorns and for the truths he planted in their place. Then, I asked him if there was anything else he wanted to show me.

He told me, “Speak my truth when you are called to. Walk in my joy and my love. Remember, I called you, Grace!”

Getting Rid of Entanglements

What has your attention?

Worries?
Having more/all the things?
Preoccupied with…?
Looking important/right/good?

Is there something you are struggling with and entangled in like I was with lying?

Getting rid of the thorns…

Ask what is the root?
This feels true…what do you say, God?
Ask forgiveness and break agreement.
God, what do you want to give me in place of…?
Thank him.

Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Used by Permission HCSB ©1999,2000,2002,2003,2009 Holman Bible Publishers. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.