Scripture reading: Matthew 13:5-9
Let us look at Matthew 13:5-6 today. Jesus says here that the Word (the seed) will fall on a certain soil, and it will spring up strong and powerful but when the sun comes up, it withers and dies. Why? It was because it was on “stony” ground. We have to understand that Jesus is talking about the heart condition. If your heart is a stony place and it does not have any depth of earth, you will not be able to bring forth fruit. What do we mean when we speak of “fruit” coming from the Word? “Fruit” is when you hear the Word of God, and the Word of God changes you inside! If the Word of God does not change you, it is wasted word.
Now, the Word says further in Matthew 13:7-8 that there is another seed that “fell among thorns.” Presently it grew strong and beautiful, but the thorns were also growing; and then the thorns grew up and “choked” the Word. It brought forth no fruit. What does it mean? Do you have a thorny heart? You come to the meeting to get a blessing, and as the word goes forth, you receive it with gladness. Your heart witnesses that it is the truth, but you have some unfulfilled business with somebody who you have hated bitterly. You just cannot love that person. That is a “thorn.” It will grow up and choke the word, and you will not be able to live a Christian life and grow in the Spirit; and you will wonder, “Why am I not growing in the Spirit?” It is because there is a thorn bush growing in your life.
The thorn might be something else. It might be a “love” affair. I hate to call it love. It is not really love at all. It is an “emotional dysfunction.” You have an emotional dysfunction wherein you think you are in love with somebody, and it continues and disrupts your life. It disrupts the life of God inside of you, so that when you receive the Word of God you cannot bring forth fruit. There is something wrong in the emotions.
Another thing I have noticed is that the young people do not seem to have the “will” to serve God. It blesses me when we sing the song, “Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness….” Do you hate wickedness? Do you really, really hate wickedness? Do you hate wickedness so much that you say, “God I do not want to have anything to do with wickedness! If this thing is wickedness, I will not do it!”
A “little white lie”—this is what we call it. WICKEDNESS! A yellow lie, a pink lie, a blue lie (whatever we would call it)—it is wickedness! We give it all kinds of names, but it is wickedness! Just a little bit of dishonesty here, just a little deception there. You say a word that is meant to deceive the other person to make him think so and so, but it is not what you meant; and you say, “I spoke the truth!” Sure, you did speak the truth, but you fixed it in such a way that it deceives the other person. It is wickedness!
“Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness” (Psalm 45:7).
I say, “My God, I LOVE righteousness! I HATE wickedness! Let me hate it more! Let me hate it! Let me so despise it, that if I am touched by it, I must get cleansed immediately!”
If you take up a sheep and throw him into the mud, he gets up and is uncomfortable. He is rubbing himself everywhere, trying to find some way to get the mud off of him. He is not a mud creature. But if you take a pig and throw him in the mud, he rolls over and says, “Thank you.” He loves it! He could stay there all day. He has a different nature. But we have to remember: God loves righteousness and hates wickedness!
(Excerpt from The Omega Message, December 1997, pg. 3-4)
Thought for today: Let this be our prayer today: “My God, I LOVE righteousness! I HATE wickedness! Let me hate it more! Let me hate it! Let me so despise it, that if I am touched by it, I must get cleansed immediately!”
