Avoiding Spiritual Thorns

Image credit: Димитър Найденов / Dimìtar Nàydenov

I'm reading the parable of the sower in Mark Chapter 4, and I was struck by the things which Christ describes as "thorns" which can spring up and choke the word once we have heard it: 

• ·        The cares of this world
• ·        The deceitfulness of riches
• ·        The lusts of other things

This parable is a warning to all of us who have heard the word. Do we allow our preoccupation with success, advancement, wealth, achievement, and recognition or approval to interfere with our efforts to nourish and nurture the word of the Lord in our hearts and our lives?

What are the lusts of other things? Do we spend too much time watching TV, or on social media? Are these things interfering with habits which foster the development of a relationship with God?

Perhaps it is time to examine our lives to identify those noxious thorns which have sprung up to choke the spiritual life out of us almost without our even knowing it.

For more on how to get rid of spiritual distractions, see my article:

Scripture Master Tip #12: Rid Yourself of All Distractions

The Parable of the Talents and Predestination

“No one is predestined to receive less than all that the Father has for His children.” (D. Todd Christofferson, “Why Marriage, Why Family,” Ensign, May 2015, lds.org).

The Parable of the Talents which Jesus taught to His disciples in Matthew chapter 25 can be fairly instructive when considering the question of foreordination and election, and how it governs our placement in this world and our relationship to each other.

The Parable of the Talents teaches the importance of exercising righteous stewardship with those things that the Lord gives to us while we are in our second estate.  Even though each servant in the parable received differing amounts to start with, they were each expected to wisely manage the talents with which they had been entrusted, in order that the wealth could grow and increase in their care before they had to return what they had been given to the master.

We all start out with differing gifts in life, and some are seemingly given greater advantages and blessings in this life than others, such as being born into the covenant, or living in a country where freedom and prosperity reign instead of tyranny and strife.  We also come into life with certain abilities and talents which are innate, or which we developed during our life before we came here, and it may seem that some have received more natural talent or advantageous opportunity than others.

The True Meaning of The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and The Lost Son

Q: Why is there more rejoicing in Heaven over the one who comes back, then the 99 that have done their best their whole life? Luke 15:7. I think there is something I am not understanding here, can anyone help me out?

A: **The conclusion of this answer is marked **SHORT ANSWER, and so you may wish to skip ahead and consult that before you read the rest. However my argument will make more sense if you read the whole thing through.

 In order to fully understand what Christ meant when he said: "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance" it is important to examine the scriptural context, which Joseph Smith explained is one of the most important keys for understanding the meaning of any of Christ's parables:

 “I have a key by which I understand the scriptures. I enquire, what was the question which drew out the answer, or caused Jesus to utter the parable? … To ascertain its meaning, we must dig up the root and ascertain what it was that drew the saying out of Jesus” (in History of the Church, 5:261).

This saying was Christ's summation of His brief parable of the lost sheep and His transition as He began another, similar, parable about a lost piece of silver. He follows both of these with the parable of the prodigal son. As I mentioned before, context is everything, so what caused Him to launch into this seemingly rapid-fire litany of parables?

Let's examine the beginning of the chapter for the answer.

Luke 15:1-2  Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

The Pharisees and scribes condemned Jesus because he taught and associated himself with publicans (who were considered to be racial traitors) and other people whom the Pharisees and scribes had judged to be sinners. Another such instance is described in more detail a few chapters earlier.

Luke 5:27-32  And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

You might be interested to know that Levi is also called Matthew, the apostle and author of the Gospel. After Christ called him to discipleship, Levi hosted a great feast in His honor, which naturally was attended by many publicans. As a publican, Levi probably did not have many friends who were not also publicans. Publicans were tax collectors for the Roman Authority (or more typically King Herod) in Judea, and those that were Jewish were looked upon as race traitors and enemy collaborators. Publicans "were detested by the Jews, and any Jew who undertook the work was excommunicated." (LDS Bible Dictionary, 755) That is the reason why the members of the Jewish religious elite classed publicans with sinners-they were literally anathema among respectable Jews.