Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
The third type of soil found in Jesus’ agrarian parable is described in Mark 4:7: “And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.” He provided the application in verses 18-19: “And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.” Jesus warned frequently of the dangers of money, stating absolutely, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon [money]” (Matthew 6:24). The distractions (“cares”) of this life dominate the thinking of most people (“Many be called, but few chosen” – Matthew 20:16b); these distractions are not limited to the financial realm, for Jesus included “the lusts of other things.” However, the push for money is a key distraction. It is a temptation even for Christians to try to keep up with the Joneses, but let us remember that the Joneses might be on their way to hell.