Have you ever been pricked by a thorn while trying to imbibe the perfume of a rose? My guess is everyone has. The thorns are part of the stalk of the rose flower.
Similarly, when we try to imbibe the perfume of God's word and try to practice it, we also get pricked by the thorns which are a part of our life. They could be derision, opposition and even persecution thorns. Essentially, they will be things which our ex-friend, Satan, will throw at us to keep up his friendship with us, usually things which we are most scared of. Being a friend of our past life, Satan knows us as well as God does, so he knows our weaknesses. He will keep throwing things to prick us, as we try and break that friendship and move away from him.
And those thorns are not going to go away anytime soon.
According to the Webster dictionary the phrase is an idiom meaning: a person or thing that repeatedly annoys someone or something or causes problems.
Paul had a constant thorn, which he prayed for removal three times but was given the grace to face it. The thorn itself was not removed. That did not stop Paul and that should not stop us. But first we must learn to recognize the thorns, pray for removal or strength to overcome and then go on our way to practice our spiritual freedom.
So today, let us challenge ourselves to think: what are the thorns in our life? What do we need to do to get rid of them?
Well, to begin with, by making a commitment to change the priorities in our life. This may require a big change in our schedules, in our attitudes and work life. We will need God's help in this as we try and break the shackles.
When we invest ourselves in what pleases our senses rather than the Word of God, we automatically are drawn to the world and create idols for ourselves, like money, businesses, jobs, homes, entertainment, alcohol, drugs and so on. It could be something as seemingly harmless as shopping or more serious stuff. Remember a movie called " Confessions of a Shopaholic?"
In Matthew 6:33, Jesus said, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” This means we must put God and His kingdom FIRST.
He must be our highest desire and priority.
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