Briers and Thorns

"For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. [8] But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned."

(Hebrews 6:7-8 ESV)

The phrases "briers and thorns" and "thorns and thistles" are repeated often in reference to Israel's fruitlessness in the Old testament. 

Briers and thorns are an example of the fruitless crop that sin bears in our lives. They are worthless for us in terms of providing nutrients, they consistently grow exactly where we don't want them to grow, and they are notoriously difficult to eradicate. A shoot, a slip of root, a seed is left behind after we dig them out, and they grow back as strongly as ever. 

Their tenacious nature is really a result of humanity's fall into sin. When Adam and Eve fell in the garden of Eden, God cursed the ground because of their sin, declaring to Adam that 

"cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field."  

(Genesis 3:17b-18 ESV)

Adam's original command from God to work the earth and keep it (Gen 2:15) is still in effect, but he will do his task in pain from now on. It has become really a thankless task--there will never be respite from the battle against the weeds. 

So too is our battle against sin in our lives. We cannot eradicate the evil tendencies of our heart. We are redeemed, but as Paul points out in Romans 7, our old man is still putting forth thorns, thistles, and briers, despite our best intentions. 

The world and its seductive pleasures easy choke the seed of the gospel that is not carefully and painfully tended. If we given up pulling the weeds in our lives or slack off, only doing a weekly weeding, when we should be pulling them out daily, the gospel will end up being choked out in our lives. As Jesus says in the parable of the Sower: 

"Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them."

(Matthew 13:7 ESV)

"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."

(Matthew 13:22 ESV)

We must be vigilant and keep fighting against our sin. 

"Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them."

Prov. 22:5

If we stop fighting the battle against sin, the weeds will take over and our defense against them will break down and fail. 

 "I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, [31] and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down."

(Proverbs 24:30-31 ESV)   

However, thorns and thistles can also be a means of sending us back to God, as can been seen Hosea 2: 

[6] Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. [7] She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’

(Hosea 2:6-7 ESV)

The Lord hedges His harlot Bride in with thorns, forcing her to return to Him. He shows His steadfast love for His people, by punishing her for her sin, and yet He "allures" her into the wilderness where He will show her His love by giving her vineyards again (Hosea 2:14-15).

It is clear that briers and thorns are a direct consequence of God's judgement upon His rebellious people. In a passage written by Isaiah at the same time as the one written by Hosea, the prophet gives us the word of the Lord: 

[5:1] Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. [2] He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. [3] And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. [4] What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? [5] And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. [6] I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. [7] For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!

(Isaiah 5:1-7 ESV)

God is extremely patient with us, and as the Vinedresser He tends us, giving us the refining experiences which are meant to produce good fruit in us. However, as Isaiah shows us, God's justice must be satisfied as well. If His vineyard does not bear good fruit after all that He does for it, it will be given up to the Judgement.

Thorns and thistles are spreaders--almost impossible to eradicate. Except by fire, which will burn all the seed away. A drastic step will need to be taken: even if God's people repent of their sin against Him, they will still have to bear the consequences; if they don't repent, they will remain sterile forever and will end up burning for eternity.

If God's people do not bear good fruit, He will ensure that they bear a fruitless crop: as punishment (Isa 5:6). Also--if thorns and thistles are a result, it is also evident that the fruits of disobedience will be difficult to get rid of, like these plants. There are serious, long-term consequences for rebellion against God. We will always be vulnerable to our "pet" sins, despite the grace of God which allows us to fight against them. 

However, we have the victory in Christ Jesus, although we are still fighting the battle here until He returns again. Praise God! Our work is not in vain!

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."

1 Cor 15: 57-58 

Growing in the Kingdom: Part 2 "Pruned"

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.2 Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (John 15: 1-2, 4-7, 16)

It is clear from these verses that we are called as Christians to bear fruit out of our faith in Christ. Christ assures us that we are chosen by Him and, abiding in Him, we will bear fruit and this fruit will also abide. Only when we live out of Him and His nourishing grace do we blossom and grow.

However, it is also very clear that we are not just left to grow on our own, sending forth a shoot here and a side branch there—those who live in Christ as the Vine are also under the care of the Father the Vinedresser. One of the consequences of bearing fruit out of Christ is that God will work in our lives in such a way that we will be forced to bear more.

We are loved by the Father so much that He wants to make us better and more fruitful members of His Kingdom. We must have faith that this painful pruning is for our good.

The fact that God disciplines his children means he loves us enough to correct us.  . . . Love does not equal unconditional affirmation. Love entails the relentless pursuit of what is for our good. And our good is always growth in godliness.  

(Kevin deYoung, The Hole in our Holiness 73)

This is sanctification as process (deYoung), and it is painful. The Reformers made this clear right at the beginning of the Heidelberg Catechism. Lord's Day 1, where they wrote: 

1 Q. What is your only comfort in life and death? 

A. That I am not my own,
but belong with body and soul,
both in life and in death,
to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins
with His precious blood,
and has set me free
from all the power of the devil.
He also preserves me in such a way
that without the will of my heavenly Father
not a hair can fall from my head;
indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. 

Therefore, by His Holy Spirit
He also assures me of eternal life
and makes me heartily willing and ready
from now on to live for Him.

"All things must work together for my salvation."  

No matter what happens, what kind of pruning He does in our lives, it is ALWAYS for our good.

[38] And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. [39] I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. [40] I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. [41] I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.

(Jeremiah 32:38-41 ESV)

Despite Israel's sin and continual turning away, God always had their good in mind. 

And so He does ours. 

Much Fruit 

It is the branch that bears the fruit,
That feels the knife,
To prune it for a larger growth,
A fuller life. 

Though every budding twig be lopped,
And every grace
Of swaying tendril, springing leaf,
Be lost a space. 

O thou whose life of joy seems reft,
Of beauty shorn;
Whose aspirations lie in dust,
All bruised and torn,   

Rejoice, tho' each desire, each dream,
Each hope of thine
Shall fall and fade;
it is the hand
Of Love Divine 

That holds the knife, that cuts and breaks
With tenderest touch,
That thou, whose life has borne some fruit
May'st now bear much. 

~ Annie Johnson Flint