seed among thorns

Over the years, I've been distressed when friends in Christ seem to walk away from Him.  Knowing that Jesus is The Good Shepherd who leaves the 99 secure in the sheepfold to search for even one of those who have gotten lost, I trust Him to do so in these cases (Luke 15:4).

But then there are those who remain in Christ, at least outwardly, but their fire for Him has somehow gone out, like a spouse who remains married without much love.  I'm more concerned about these casualties since, in a sense, they're not really lost but rather just lukewarm.  You and I know what Jesus says about those people in Revelation 3:16, the opposite of the Good News in John 3:16.

How does it happen that those who were once aflame with Love for Jesus, His People, and His Mission burn out?  Perhaps an answer lies in Jesus' parable of the sower, the story of what happens to seed when it is sown.  The first two sets of seed, those sown on the path and in the rocky ground, never really get going or growing in Christ, and they quickly fall away.  Sadly, we've all seen that, and probably were that kind of seed at the beginning of our life in Christ.  But the third kind, the kind sown in the thorns, is the most sad.  For this seed grows and survives as a plant, to an extent, but it bears no fruit.  The worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and choke the [seed of God's] Word, making it unfruitful (Mark 4:3-19).  

Friends, this sad situation can happen to us just as surely as it has happened to some mighty fine disciples of the past who are now just spiritual bench-warmers, lukewarm at that.  Worries, deceit, and unholy desires are all around us, pressing in on us like perhaps in no other era.  We need to encourage one another to keep our eyes on Jesus, to be earnest and to keep repenting of such distractions, calling them out in each other.  In this way, we can keep the door of our hearts open to Jesus when He comes knocking for some inside time with us, the kind that changes everything for the better (Revelation 3:19-20).