To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

Genesis 3:17-19

The above passage takes us back to the very beginning; where it all started, so to speak.

The book of Genesis tells us how all humanity fell from grace and broke relationship its creator. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, sin entered the world — and it brought with it a consequence; the curse.

Work existed before the fall but with the fall, the curse was thorns and thistles that would make man’s work unfruitful.

Thorns and Thistles in the Modern Economy

Jesus reached back to Genesis and used thorns and thistles as a metaphor in his parable of the sower.

Still others, like seed thrown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

Mark 4:18-19

In this parable, he lists the:

• worries of this life
• deceitfulness of riches and
• desires for other things

… as the thorns and thistles that choke the word of God in our hearts and make our Kingdom work unfruitful.

All of these thorns and thistles in Jesus parable can be wrapped up in the middle-class dream in which steadfast believers face the daily grind, working 40-60 hour weeks for the 30-40 most productive years of their lives, all in pursuit of a monthly paycheck.

The worries of this life, like making rent, putting food on the table, and planning for retirement are what drive people into the office each day.

The deceitfulness of riches — that innate belief that just a little more money will alleviate all the worries of this life — is what keeps people chained to their desks, working late at the office, putting in the extra hours and constantly chasing the next salary increase or promotion.

The desires for other things like a bigger house, a flashier car, or expensive holidays and lifestyles are what make people spend every penny they earn and then incur consumer-debt to buy the things they can’t quite afford yet. No matter; the next bonus, salary increase, or promotion will cover it. This increases the worries of this life and, so, the cycle continues.

In the end, the middle-class dream becomes a middle-class nightmare from which there appears to be no escape. Ultimately, it chokes the word of God in our hearts and makes us unfruitful. And so the curse in Genesis continues to bite, as by the sweat of our brows we eat our food until we return to the dust from which we were taken.

Not a cheerful picture.

Free From the Curse of Sin

However, the Bible tells us that Jesus came to set us free from the curse of sin! This is the good news of the gospel. Primarily, this means that, through his death and resurrection, he broke the power of sin and death, purchasing our forgiveness from sin, and paving the way for us to spend eternity with God in heaven.

However, that same power can set us free from the curse of sin in this life. This enables us to shake off those thorns and thistles that choke us, and allow God’s word to become fruitful in our hearts so that we, in turn, can be fruitful in his kingdom. Through the power of his spirit, we can root out the thorns and thistles that choke our hearts once and for all. I’m not saying it will be easy — but, through Christ, all things are possible.

First, we need to learn to be content with what we have. By learning contentment, we can shake off the desires for other things. We can stop spending with abandon every time our paycheck comes in. We can sell that expensive car and buy a cheaper one for cash, thus releasing ourselves from that crippling debt. If we find that we have overextended on our mortgage, we can rent out that expensive home, and perhaps move into a smaller place for a time to alleviate the pain of covering a mortgage we struggle to pay each month. In so doing, we can reduce our expenses and, by extension, our worries in this life.

Second, we need to stop deluding ourselves with the deceitfulness of riches. Instead of looking ahead to what we need to earn in the future, why not look back at what we earned five years ago versus what we earn right now. If just a little more money was the solution to our problems, then, in theory, most of us should have no problems right now, in light of the fact that we have earned more year-on-year over time. And yet, the plight of most middle-class families is no different today than it was five years ago. Our expenses always rise to meet our income, and then some! This is the deceitfulness of riches. When we understand this, we can begin to focus on being good stewards of what we have right now rather than constantly striving for just a little more.

As we do these two things, we will find that the worries of this life evaporate and we can focus on God’s word and his kingdom. In doing this, we are set free to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33) in our lives.

As we begin to spend our money as wise stewards of God’s riches in our lives, we will find that we are less focused on our paycheck and more focused on God and his purposes. When this happens, we realize that the thorns and thistles that choked our hearts are gone!

With the thorns and thistles rooted out of our lives, we are freed from this particular aspect of sin’s curse. Rather than being choked by the worries of this life, and eating food by the sweat of our brow, we can be fruitful in God’s kingdom… and there lies freedom.

A Kingdom-focused heart will overcome the thorns and thistles in our lives and make us fruitful. However, this means we need to be intentional about how we spend the money we earn. It requires stewardship and wise management to ensure that our lives remain Kingdom-focused.

I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest — and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.

Proverbs 24:30-34

Poverty Will Come Upon You Like a Thief

Many Christians in the modern age view the act of investing for capital gain as greedy. These sincere believers consider the acquisition and management of assets, like land — or a vineyard — little more than chasing after riches, which equates to the love of money.

Here is the bare truth; the writer of this proverb is hardly applauding this particular vineyard owner for being Godly. Instead, he calls this owner a sluggard, and one who has no sense.

This proverb illustrates a brutal truth. If we don’t manage our money wisely and tend our own vineyards, so to speak, poverty will come upon us like a thief.

Laziness comes in all sorts of shapes. For instance, it is quite conceivable that the sluggard in this proverb has been unable, or unwilling, to tend his vineyard because he is too busy busting his gut to earn a salary at his day-job.

Looking at my own life, I have never thought of myself as a lazy person. But here’s the rub. I often find myself so busy trying to earn a living that I simply don’t have the time or energy to tend to an investment portfolio — my vineyard. When I get home after a long, hard day at the office, the last thing I want to do is manage my stock portfolio or rental properties.

Then I am reminded of this proverb and it spurs me on. I am reminded that my ‘vineyard’ needs tending; otherwise, poverty will come upon me like a thief.