The Perfidy of Life
by Rev Greg Obong-Oshotse 11 July 2020
Reading: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Text: Matthew 13:22
“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.”
Scottish-born hymnist James Montgomery (1771-1854) was the son of missionary parents in Tobago. Both died within a year of each other. In his struggles of faith, he wrote, “It is hard to renounce the world and all those pleasures which the world deems innocent. Yet Christianity requires the sacrifice of them. For my own part I cannot at present take up my cross and follow the despised and rejected Man of Sorrows.
And yet – you will say it is a strange confession – I carry heavier cross and bear a deeper shame in my own self- rebuking conscience. I feel the Christian’s suffering without the Christian’s hope. . . The further I am carried from that shore where once I was happily moored, the weaker grow my hopes of ever reaching another where I may anchor in safety. At the same time my hopes of returning to the harbour I have left are diminishing.” Christ says the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches are harmful. They lure people away from safe harbours with a false promise of better shores. They are deceived who think they can hold on to the word and yet embrace the things that ‘choke’ the word. Such is the life of fallen humanity.
Prayer
Dear Father, help us to observe and escape the duplicity of this life in Christ’s name, Amen.
YouTube shows adverts which may not be appropriate to the video we have selected.