FRIDAY October 31, 2025

The Cultivated Christian

For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
Hebrews 6:7-8

Paul used an analogy that everyone can easily understand––the cultivation of the earth for planting herbs and the rain that waters it. Once grown, herbs become a bountiful blessing to those who harvest them. However, if the field grows only thorns and briers, what good is it? It is not useful at all and is burned. Read Hebrews 6:7-8 again, using the New International Version:

Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

The Scripture speaks for itself. Christians who are healthy, grow. They become rooted and grounded in Christ and become a blessing to others. On the other hand, those who are not growing become like problematic thorns and briers that are good for nothing except to be burned.

This also relates to Judaism––it was like thorns growing to snare the Hebrew believers. The Christian Jews who were being tempted to go back to killing lambs, goats and turtledoves would actually forfeit what Jesus Christ had done for them on the Cross––the redemption of their souls. Surely God's perfect will for each one of us is our redemption.

Hebrews 6:7-8 reflects the teaching of the parable of the sower that Jesus taught in Matthew 13:1-9. Some seeds fell by the wayside, and the birds ate them. In the stony places, they sprang up but lacked depth of earth and withered away. The seeds that fell among the thorns were choked. The seeds that fell on good ground yielded a crop––some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Do you understand what Jesus was saying? The important question to answer is, “What kind of seed will you become?”

Success in the Christian life is not automatic. The soul must be cultivated like a garden and the will must be sanctified and become Christian through and through.
~A.W. Tozer~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!