Mark’s Account Of The Thorny Ground

Let us muse today from Mark 4 and The Parable Of The Sower. Each one of the Gospel writers gives a different side of this great picture. It is like putting a puzzle together. When all the pieces are together we say, ‘Wow, I can see it.’ The additons of Mark’s account of the thorny ground are profound. In 4:7 Mark tells us the thorns grew up. The word grew means to arise or spring up suddenly. My, how things can come into our lives quickly and choke out the seed of the Word of God. In 4:19 we find two more phrases to describe the thorns. One, is the cares of this world. This speaks of the burdens that the Lord told us through Peter to cast upon Him. We are not equipped to carry them. They will choke out the Word of God. The second phrase is the lust of other things. The phrase means an unholy desire for that which God has not sanctioned for us to have. Paul tells us that they will be hurtful lusts. Proverbs tells us to distance ourselves from any sign of thorns. It was a wise thought in Solomon’s day and how much more so in our day.