He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
Jesus told a parable — a story with a hidden meaning — about a farmer scattering seed on different kinds of ground. Each type of soil represents a different kind of person who hears his message. This verse explains the third type: someone who hears the word of God and shows initial interest, but is slowly choked out by two things — anxiety about everyday problems and the seductive pull of wealth. Like a plant trying to grow up through weeds, the message never matures and produces fruit. Jesus is being honest that some of the most dangerous threats to faith aren't dramatic — they're ordinary and almost invisible.
God, I don't always notice when worry and want are quietly crowding you out. Open my eyes to the thorns I've been tending without realizing it. Give me honesty to name them and courage to choose differently. Let your word take real root in me. Amen.
Nobody chooses to become a thornfield. You don't wake up one Tuesday and decide, today I'll let financial stress and comparison quietly kill everything that matters. It happens in increments — the mortgage, the inbox, the news cycle, the gap between what you have and what you think you need. The thorns Jesus names aren't lurid, dramatic sins. They're respectable ones. A packed calendar. Low-grade anxiety about next month. A slow drift toward believing that security is something you build rather than something you receive. By the time you notice the plant is struggling, the thorns have been growing for a while. The word "deceitfulness" is worth sitting with. Wealth doesn't announce itself as a competitor to God — it just makes quiet promises. Enough money and you won't need to trust anyone. Enough security and you won't have to depend on what you can't control. Jesus isn't saying wealth is evil or that worry makes you a bad person. He's saying they lie. They present themselves as temporary, practical concerns — just being responsible, just being realistic — but they have roots and they grow. The question isn't whether you have any thorns. It's which ones you've been watering.
Jesus names two specific things that choke spiritual growth: worry and the "deceitfulness" of wealth. Why do you think he chose these two — what makes them especially effective at choking out faith?
Which of the two thorns feels more alive in your life right now — anxiety about circumstances, or the pull of wealth and the security it promises?
This verse implies you can hear true and good things and still have them come to nothing in your life. How does that challenge the assumption that learning more is the same as growing more?
How do worry and the pursuit of financial security affect your relationships — with God, with your family, with people who need something from you?
What's one thorn you could name honestly right now? What would it practically look like to pull it up — not perfectly, but one small step?
And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
Mark 4:18
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Philippians 4:6
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.
Mark 4:19
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Matthew 6:25
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
1 Timothy 6:17
He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
1 Timothy 6:10
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
1 Timothy 6:9
And the one on whom seed was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the worries and distractions of the world and the deceitfulness [the superficial pleasures and delight] of riches choke the word, and it yields no fruit.
AMP
As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
ESV
'And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
NASB
The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
NIV
Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
NKJV
The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.
NLT
"The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it.
MSG