When Worry, Wealth, and Comfort Crowd Out Faith

There are seasons when I know I am doing the right things.

I’m reading Scripture. I’m praying. I’m serving. I’m trying to lead my family well. I’m working hard. I’m staying disciplined.

But Luke 8:14 reminds me that doing the right things doesn’t automatically mean I am growing the way God intends.

Jesus says:

“The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.”
Luke 8:14 NASB1995

What gets me about this verse is that the seed actually grows.

These people heard the Word.

Something started.

But other things grew around it too.

Worries.

Riches.

Pleasures.

And eventually those things choked out what God was trying to grow.

That feels pretty close to real life.

Most men I know aren’t waking up every morning planning to drift away from God.

We’re trying to take care of our families.

We’re working.

Paying bills.

Building careers.

Thinking about retirement.

Trying to stay healthy.

Trying to enjoy life a little.

None of those things are automatically wrong.

But they can become thorns.

Worry can disguise itself as responsibility.

The pursuit of money can disguise itself as providing.

Comfort can disguise itself as something we have earned after years of hard work.

And before we realize it, those things are consuming most of our attention.

Jesus says the result is that the seed “bring[s] no fruit to maturity.”

That phrase bothers me.

Because there can be growth without maturity.

A man can know more Scripture than he did five years ago and still not be more patient.

He can attend church every week and still be ruled by anxiety.

He can serve in ministry and still be consumed with money, career, status, or comfort.

He can look spiritually active while the Word of God is slowly being crowded out inside him.

I have to ask myself some uncomfortable questions.

What occupies my thoughts when I have a quiet moment?

What am I most afraid of losing?

What do I believe would finally make life feel secure?

What am I chasing right now?

Those answers can reveal the thorns.

The answer isn’t to stop working, saving, planning, or enjoying the blessings God gives us.

The answer is to make sure those things stay in their proper place.

Because Jesus isn’t just interested in seeing the seed sprout.

He wants fruit.

He wants maturity.

He wants men whose lives are increasingly shaped by His Word.

That means sometimes we need to do more than plant good things.

We need to pull weeds.

Christian men, we need to pay attention to what is growing alongside our faith.

The things choking out spiritual maturity probably won’t announce themselves as enemies.

They may look like responsibility.

Success.

Security.

Comfort.

But if they are crowding out our relationship with Christ, they are still thorns.

Ask yourself today:

What is growing in my life that needs to be pulled before it chokes out something God is trying to mature?