Often as Christians, we need to take a step back from our busy lives to examine where we are as Christians. We need to ask ourselves many questions: Have I been growing? Is that growth visible to others? Am I more holy this month or year than I was last year? These are all important questions we need to ask on a regular basis. This morning, I would like us all to examine ourselves with another important question; one that we need to honestly examine ourselves with. That question:
ARE YOU (AM I) CHOKING SPIRITUALLY? Are we in need of a spiritual Heimlich maneuver?
"And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: 5 "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." (Luke 8:4-8)
Jesus here and in the parallel accounts in Matthew 13 and Mark 4 speaks of 4 different kinds of soil. He shares with us later on that the different soils are the hearts of individuals that receive the seed of the word of God. When the word of God goes into a heart, it can give each person one of the four different responses that Jesus speaks of in detail in verses 11-15. But I would like to pay close attention to this morning one of the soils that I believe we far too often if we were honest would classify ourselves under.
Luke 8:7 "And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it." Jesus describes this soil as “those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature (8:14). Matthews account says that the word is choked out of their lives and they prove to be unfruitful.
I always looked at where it says worries and pleasures of the world, and thought that it was only speaking of sins that we can commit that can choke the word out of our lives. But I realized in my own life that the cares of the world can actually be things that are not bad in and of themselves. For instance:
• Is it wrong to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers play football or the Pirates play baseball?
• Is it wrong to watch “appropriate” television shows or to read a good fiction novel?
• Is it wrong to do gardening and landscaping at home?
• Is it wrong to go out to dinner with a friend, or spend a weekend on vacation?
• Is it wrong to spend time on the internet checking out all of your social media websites such as Facebook, twitter, YouTube, Google+, etc.?
Are any of these things wrong? The answer to all these questions is no. In and of themselves, these things are not wrong. But I’ll tell you one thing that is true: If we keep piling up more and more of these things our priority that we claim to have of following Jesus will get narrower and narrower till we just squeeze Him out of our lives. When we commit too much time to these things; time that God has given us to be stewards of, we can choke the word out of our lives and be fruitless in our service to God.
It can get to the point where the spiritual things that are supposed to be our highest priorities as a Christian are coming in a distant second to our own non-spiritual activities. It is easy to be taken away by the cares of the world.
It would not surprise me one bit if it were true that close to the majority of those who claim to be Christians here in America fall into this category of soil. The reason why is because we just make ourselves too busy and let the things that should be our highest priorities slip through the cracks.
So let’s ask ourselves this question: What should be our highest priorities, especially in the time we have that we would consider “free time” when we are not spending time fulfilling our responsibilities to our families, such as working and being the husbands, wives, and children that God calls us to be? What kinds of things should we desire and enjoy doing in our free time to be fruitful servants of God?
BIBLE READING AND STUDY
Do we spend time reading and studying God’s word? This should be a high priority to us! The only way we will be firm in our faith, be ready for false teaching, and be growing as a Christian is if we are spending time in God’s word. Remember what it is that makes the soil of the thorns become unfruitful. The word of God gets choked out! God’s word is vital for us if we want to grow and be fruitful.
2 Tim 3:16-17. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work”
God’s word helps us see things in our life that we need to grow in. As we read and study, it at times can be very humbling as you see sins in your life, or things that God commands in scripture that you are not doing. This verse says that the word of God is profitable for many things, but it will not matter if we do not spend time in God’s word. If you want to start a business, and you want the business to be profitable, you need to put a lot of effort into it to get it to do so. The same is true with the scriptures. The Bible will not be profitable to us if it is collecting dust on the shelf. We need to wear our Bibles out. We need to dig deep. That is where growth begins. We read, study, and then obey what it says.
What are other things we need to do with our time?
ENCOURAGING AND SPENDING TIME WITH CHRISTIANS?
How high of a priority is it to us to make sure that we spend time with God’s people? There are many scriptures that refer to our responsibilities in helping each other grow and gain victory over sin. One such text is in Hebrews 10.
Hebrews 10:23-25. "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near."
I believe this text has application so much farther than the worship assemblies that we attend. We need to be around God’s people much more time than just during our assemblies. I’m afraid that one of the biggest reasons that the majority to Christians are not on fire for the Lord is simply because they are always off by themselves doing their own thing. What happens if you build a fire and take a log out of the fire and put it off by itself? Most of the time it will burn out. This is what happens to us when we are not around the people of God, stirring one another up to love and good works.
• We need to see our need to be with one another many times per week. The early Christians in Acts 2 met together daily in the temple and from house to house.
• Focus on how we can help our brothers and sisters in Christ before we leave the house in the morning for worship.
HOW ABOUT EVANGELISM?
Are you too busy to share Jesus with others?
Matt 28:19-20. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
This passage is a clear command not only to the Apostles, but to all of God’s people to share the gospel. We need a bigger concern for lost souls. We need that same compassion for the lost that our Lord has, seeing the lost of the world as sheep without a shepherd. Seeking the lost should be a big priority for us because it was the purpose of our Lord’s coming to die on the cross. He said that He came to seek and save the lost. Matthew 28:19-20 is commonly called the great commission, but way too often, it becomes the great omission of our lives. Is this the case for you?
• Bible Reading and Study
• Encouraging Our Brothers And Sisters In Christ
• Evangelism
Are these things priorities to us?
I’m not telling us that we cannot have any activities or have any hobbies that we are involved in. That is not the point. The point is that we can pile up so many things on our plate that are good in and of themselves that we can start choking ourselves spiritually. It is very easy in this world we live in to make ourselves overly busy. It is very easy for us to hold onto the things of this world and to put our focus on ourselves instead of Christ and the priorities that He gives us as His people.
Luke 8:14-15. "Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
This passage in Luke challenges us to find out what the “thorns” in our life are. What things are you allowing in your life to choke you spiritually and to keep you from bearing fruit for God?
We need to remember who we belong to as Christians. We belong to Christ. He purchased us with His blood! In everything we do, Christ should be at the center of our lives. We should not be just giving Jesus a few hours out of each week.
So, as we return to our question that we asked at the beginning of this lesson. Each one of us needs to answer it for the well-being of our souls: Are you choking spiritually? Are you bearing fruit for the Lord?
Please consider this verse your Heimlich Maneuver:
John 15:5-6 "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned."
Whether or not we are fruitful for God has eternal consequences! If we are not being fruitful, there may be two reasons why,
1. We are not maturing as Christians because we are choking the word out of our lives.
2. We are not in Christ.
INVITATION
If there is anything that we can do for you to help you from choking yourself to death with the cares and the riches of this world, we hope that you will make your needs known before it’s too late. If you have not been forgiven of your sins yet, the word of God says that if you will repent, and be baptized (immersed in water), you can have your sins washed away and become a Christian.
