Then The Wicked One Comes...

Matthew 13:19  "The wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown..."

What an interesting little nugget of gold tucked in that 19th verse.  It's tragic yet true.  The sower has sown the seed.  The preacher has preached the Word.  And immediately comes the Devil...the wicked one...the enemy...and begins to snatch away the the truth.  Who is this written about?  The verse says, "When anyone hears the word..."  Anyone, anywhere, at anytime - The Devil is opposed to the Word and he will use whatever means to snatch it away.  How?

Later in that same passage we read in v22 that the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word...and the hearer becomes unfruitful.  Wow.  The picture I get is that of twisting a towel or wash cloth to get all the water out of it.  We take the towel in our hands and twist tightly until it is almost completely dry.  Satan is a twister of lives...to get the Word out of us.  He's ok with us being spiritual as long as we're spiritually dry.  The enemy is not interested in choking me... He is interested in choking the Word that has been sown in me.

A few years ago a friend of mine noticed a man in a restaurant who was choking.  The man who was choking motioned with his hand that something was wrong.  My friend went over and quickly performed the heimlich maneuver.  Immediately the man was breathing normally and my friend was somewhat of a hero.  Like the man who was choking, we must recognize that something's not right.  We must admit we've allowed the cares of this world to overwhelm the presence of God in our life.  It's the work of the Devil to snatch the Word out of our heart.

One more thing...The enemy also snatches the Word out of our heart by the deceitfulness of riches.  Well, what's so deceiving about riches?  Simply this: Riches do not satisfy the heart.  With riches, you can satisfy the ego.  You can satisfy your emotions.  You may even satisfy your flesh and blood.  But riches leave your heart empty.  Riches always leave you wanting more...more....more.

Only Jesus can satisfy the heart.  Friend - guard your heart,  Guard your relationship with God.  Because the Devil is busy.  Given the opportunity he will come and snatch away the Word that has been sown in your heart.  MM