Not Sin - But Still a Thorn: The Pleasures That Quietly Choke the Word
I'm excited to keep going in this series, because today I want to introduce the last thing Jesus named as a thorn — the pleasures of life, the things you simply want, that quietly compete with the Word for your attention.
Money Never Had to Be in the Room for the Miracle
When Jesus saw thousands of hungry people, Philip did the math out loud — two hundred denarii wouldn't be enough for everyone to have even a little. That's an honest, reasonable assessment of the money on hand.
But Jesus never asked what they had in their pockets to determine what He could do. He took five loaves and two fish, gave thanks, and fed five thousand people with baskets left over.
The money was never actually necessary for the outcome — only obedience to what He'd already been told to do.
Sit Down and Get Fed - or Stand and Contend for Your Right to Go Without
Notice a detail easy to miss: Jesus told the crowd to sit down, and only those sitting down got fed. Not everyone sat. Some people, given the same instruction, would rather stand.
Being told what to do and actually yielding to it are two different postures. One results in provision. The other results in nothing, simply because you insisted on staying on your feet instead of doing what you were told.
It's Not Sin - But If You'll Compromise God's Will for It, It's a Thorn
“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.”
Luke 8:14 (NKJV)
There was a stretch of years when I loved watching boxing on Saturday nights. Nothing wrong with that on its own. But I had a service to lead Sunday morning, and I was staying up late instead of putting in the time I needed in the Word and in prayer.
It wasn't the boxing that was sinful. It was that I was willing to let it compete with what actually needed my attention, and it began to diminish what the Word was producing in my life.
I had to get a hold of it — not because the thing itself was wrong, but because of what it was costing me.
You Get to Decide What You Believe, Even When Doubt Shows Up
Everyone faces temptation not to believe. That's not unique to people with weak faith — even strong faith gets tempted toward doubt regularly. The difference is what happens next.
Believing isn't the absence of doubt. It's a decision made in spite of it. "I choose not to believe my doubts. I choose to believe the Word of God" is something you say deliberately, not something that happens to you automatically.
Whatever pleasure, hobby, or desire is quietly competing for the place the Word should have in your life, it doesn't have to stay sinful to be a problem. If it's choking what God wants to produce in you, deal with it the same way you'd deal with any other thorn — identify it, and don't let it win.
Fight To Win.
