The Battle for your Focus
“Others are those who are sown among the thorns. These are those who have heard the word, and the cares of this age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Those which were sown on the good ground are those who hear the word, and accept it, and bear fruit, some thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times.” He said to them, “Is the lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it put on a stand? For there is nothing hidden, except that it should be made known; neither was anything made secret, but that it should come to light. If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.”” (Mark 4:18-23 WEB)
There is a battle for your focus.
God wants you to prioritize receiving His word because it is for your own profit in all things.
The devil wants you to prioritize the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life because it is for his own benefit. If he has you focused on pointless things, then you will not advance God’s Kingdom.
There is only enough room for one “number one” in your heart. It is either God who is your master, or Mammon is [treated as] your master.
The one who you treat as your master will influence the kind of decisions you make on a daily basis.
When God is your master, you will do things that please Him. When Mammon is treated as your master, you will do what pleases your flesh, to gain more of what it is lusting after.
Lust is a bottomless pit—there is no such thing as contentment or being satisfied. The hunger only grows and the person feels just as empty after indulging the lusts.
God made you a “lamp”, the “light of the world” to cause those whose minds have been blinded by Satan to see the glorious light of the Gospel.
A lamp is not meant to be hidden under a basket or under a bed. When you are pursuing the cares of this age and deceitful riches, you will hide your light in order to fit in with the world, so that you can indulge your flesh.
You will say and do things in order to please men because you are afraid of what worldly benefits you will lose by offending them with the truth. You are afraid of talking about Jesus because you don’t want to offend people and you want them to ‘like’ you.
There are amazing eternal rewards to be won, so don’t let temporal things choke your faith and make you unfruitful. There is much more benefit in prioritizing God’s word. It keeps you young, makes you wise, banishes sickness, and energizes your faith to receive God’s superabounding grace in your life.
Besides these personal gains, you will also become easier for the Holy Spirit to lead, and that means God can touch
many other lives through you. Many people will be encouraged and strengthened to have faith in Jesus, and God’s kingdom will be expanded as the Gospel is sown in more receptive hearts.
There can only be lots of good outcomes for the one who loves to hear the word of God. The Scriptures are not just ordinary words. They are spirit and life. Let your heart be well-fed by spiritual feasts of God’s word every day!
The four gospels are beautiful because we can see our Lord Jesus clearly. Every word, parable, miracle, and action carries the fragrance of Heaven. Never let any wrong interpretations steal the joy of your salvation. Be sure to read my 4-eBook bundle, “Understand the Four Gospels Through the Lens of Grace”: https://bit.ly/understandeveryparable
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