Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn’t produce a crop. Mark 4:6.
Others are sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word, but the worries of this age, the seduction of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Mark 4:18-19.
This soil looks like it is ready to be sown, but underneath the surface are the living roots and seeds of thorns and weeds. The soil has been tilled and the thorns have been cut down, but their roots are alive and well, just under the surface. When the seed falls here, it springs to life quickly and gives every indication that a good harvest will follow. When the seed springs to life, so do the thorns and weeds that were already there and they soon choke out the tender plant. The young tender plant withers and dies without producing any fruit at all.
This is a picture of a person who tries to have the benefit of the Gospel while still clinging to the old life of sin. Without a conscious break from the old life of sin this person does not have a chance of being saved. The seed of the Gospel cannot survive to produce fruit in a heart filled with other things. The seed will have the ground or sin will have the ground, but it cannot be shared! Jesus said it was the cares of the world, the quest for earthly riches, and the lust for the things of this world that spelled disaster for this kind of soil. This kind of person begins well, but soon fades away, having their profession choked out by sin and the world.
Were they really saved? How do we know? There is no fruit of salvation in their life! When Jesus comes in to a life, He causes the redeemed person to make a clean, clear break with the old life of sin. I will say it again, we like to look at people who have made a profession and who are back out in sin and say they are “backslidden and out of God’s will” or “carnal”. More likely, they have just never been saved to begin with!
Preachers have fed a generation “easy believism” and have failed to tell lost people that a holy God demands repentance, along with faith, before a lost soul can be saved. If you have made a profession and there has been no change in your life, then you need to repent and call on Christ for salvation.
David's Journey 