January 28, 2022

“And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop… Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”  Mark 4:7,18-19

King Josiah, king of Judah from 640-609 B.C., endeavored to bring God’s people back from the fallen, backslidden state in which they found themselves. He took decisive action to cleanse both the polluted temple and the land in general of widespread idolatry. Positive moves were made toward leading the people in reformation. Seeds of truth had sprung up and given promise of an abundant harvest, but they had been choked by thorns. The hearts of the multitude had not been transformed. The prophet Jeremiah repeatedly called attention to divine counsels found in Deuteronomy. He pleaded with them to understand that one’s own heart can deceive him!

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind…” Jeremiah 17:9-10a

Like Jesus, Jeremiah was despised and rejected by his own countrymen. It is important to understand what is meant by the word that is translated “despise.” Nowadays, we tend to think of despising as an active loathing or hatred, but its use in the Bible is a passive attitude: just not placing a high value or emphasis on someone or something; hearing good counsel but not taking it seriously. Indifference. It is the typical attitude of anyone who does not feel the need to be corrected. In vivid contrast, there are also those who seek the LORD, actively asking to be corrected by Him:

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  Psalm 139:23-24