TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Mark 4:18
Read: Mark 4: 1-20
Listen: Mark 4
TODAY’S MESSAGE
Jesus speaks about the impact of wealth on faith in a way to get the crowd’s attention. He often uses a parable—a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. One parable is of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21). Another parable is in Mark 4:1-20 where Jesus uses the scattering of seeds on various soils to illustrate people’s responses to spiritual truth. One of the unfruitful soils is described as “thorny” (Mark 4:18). This represents those who hear God’s truth, but it is “choked” by things like wealth and wanting more things. While Jesus doesn’t condemn wealth, he warns them, “Watch out! Be careful!”
Being careful is for us today because wealth can be deceptive. We think it will do something it won’t. It’s easy to base our identity on our wealth—focusing on what we earn, how much we own or how many trips we take. We might think, “If I can just pay off my student loans, I’ll be all set.” Or “We‘ll feel whole once we get out of this apartment and into our own home.” As we age, maybe it’s, “All I need is a little more for a comfortable retirement.” While pursuing any of these is not necessarily wrong, Jesus places “a danger sign” on all of them. It’s like he’s saying, “Be careful. Don’t allow these to choke off what I desire to do in your life.”
IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY
Where do you need to place “a danger sign”? It might be around your paycheck, shrinking student loan balance, bank accounts or the growing collection of hobby toys. Commit this area to the Lord as you pray for contentment and an ever-increasing trust in our God that will meet your needs.
2023 SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
Join us all of 2023 developing a different spiritual practice each month. SPIRITUAL PRACTICES are intentional regular activities to deepen our relationship with God and mold us to be more like Jesus.
June is WORSHIP. Keep track of our spiritual practices at beyondtheweekend.org/spiritualpractices.
Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.
