Transformed By God's Word

3. Not by inhibited response To God’s Word (vv. 7, 18-19)

The Thorny Soil is the soil, which still contains some roots of the previous plant residing in it. These thorns grow and tend to choke the germinating seed so that it may grow but not productive. To choke means to strangle, overpower, and kill. The new seed shares the nutrients and stamina it receives from the soil and nature with the existing thorns and roots.

Spiritually speaking, there are those who hear the Word of God but overpowered by their existing concerns in life. God’s Word will not have a significant influence in this person’s life because there are other concerns that prevent its influence. What are these concerns?

(1) The Worries of This Life -- Worry literally implies a mind being torn in different directions. Sometimes our minds are torn by the different concerns of life. Worry of the World vs. The Word of God. We worry too much of our material needs wherein God challenged us that if seek His kingdom first, he will meet our needs. (Matt. 6:33)

ILLUSTRATION Corrie ten boom, for the last two years of her life, spent it in our congregation in Fullerton, California. It was a wonderful experience to have this godly woman in our midst during that extended period of time as we literally watched her die. She said on one occasion, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of sorrows; it empties today of strength.” – Charles Swindoll

A woman worried for forty years that she would die of cancer. She finally died of pneumonia at age seventy. She wasted thirty-three years worrying about the wrong thing. —John Haggai, How to Win over Worry

(2) The Deceitfulness of Wealth -- Deceit means the distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading. Many times, men were deceived by wealth regarding man’s security and destiny. Satan said that wealth is all we need to live and survive. So man gives priority in the accumulation of wealth regardless of the manner they got it.

There are instances that we do not only ignore the study of God’s Word but also openly defy the authority of God’s principles in acquiring wealth. Thus dishonesty, corruption, materialism, and the like prevail in the life of man. (Matt. 4:4)

(3) The Desires of Other Things -- This statement implies the personal interest and goal related to the acquisition of wealth. The desires of other things suggest discontentment. (See I Tim. 6:7-10) Discontentment prevents people from obeying God’s Word.

4. But by receptive response to God’s Word (vv. 8, 20)

The Good Soil hearers are those who possess what the other three soils lack. He is responsive, rooted in God’s Word -- full of conviction, and undivided commitment to His Word.

When we are interested in the Word of God, we open our lives to different possibilities of benefits and are spared from the different problems and agonies of life.

When we are convicted by the Word of God, we can minimize or withstand the influence of temptation and sin. We are able to resist the Devil and be at peace with our God and Master.