Enemies of The Seed (Mk. 4:13-20) (Part 5)

THE SEED ON THE THORNS (4:18-19)

• What’s the big picture here?
• This group of hearers is trying to fit too much stuff into too small a space.
•  Life gets choked when too many things compete for number one priority.
• When weeds are choking your plants, how do you know?
• You are looking for intertwining.
• The weed becomes a vine that grows all over and around the plant.
• The weeds can live with the plants, but the plants have difficulty coexisting with the weeds.
• What’s the enemy here?
• Competition.
• Jesus isn’t the only One who wants to occupy your heart.
• Specifically, what competition is mentioned? (1 Jn. 2:15-16; Jam. 4:4-5)
• Cares of the world
• Deceitfulness of riches
• Desire for other things
• Your heart – the internal, invisible place where you house your priorities – is not a mansion; it is a studio apartment.
•  It is designed to house one – one person (Jesus), one priority, one tenant.
•  Maybe something needs to be evicted!
• Prov 4:23
• If you are to properly hear, understand, and respond to God’s Word, the third enemy you must conquer is competition.