Don’t Let Thorns Grow in Your Investments

God wants each of us to experience His benefits. He doesn’t want us suffering in lack.

He created us to succeed and desires that we prosper (3 John 1:2, Genesis 1:28). So why are so many people trapped in the cycles of debt and poverty? If God promised to provide for our needs, why aren’t needs being provided for?

Hundredfold Return

 In Jesus’ parable of the sower, He said everything in the kingdom works by this principle of sowing and reaping: …

Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred. Mark 4:3-8

 When Jesus explained this parable to His disciples, He said the seed was the Word of God (or we could say God’s promises). Like seed, God’s Word is sown everywhere, but according to this parable, it produces differently in different conditions. Why? One reason is because of thorns.

Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Mark 4:18-19

Some hearts have become so hardened to God’s Word they completely reject seed. Others have not been cultivated for strong root systems. Still others produce thorns that choke God’s Word. What amazes me is that most thorns grow out of an unbalanced relationship with money (the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust for other things). Only a small percentage of hearts produce fruit like the Word—but what a return they give: “some thirty, some sixty, and some hundredfold what was sown” (Mark 3:8 NIV)!

Are thorns growing up in your financial belief system? Do you have an unbalanced view of prosperity, taking only part of the Word and leaving the rest? Are you being a “doer of the Word?” Have you allowed the world’s definition of wealth to skew your own? In an attempt to avoid greed, have you forgotten “all His benefits” (Psalm 103:2)? I don’t know about you, but I want God to receive a return on His investment in me. I want my life to produce a hundredfold return!

But how much control do I have over that return? Hopefully, by now you understand that God’s promised benefits don’t automatically happen in our lives. God provided for us in grace, but our faith must respond. God will never force His will or His plan on us. We must make a decision to cooperate with Him. We must pre[1]pare the soil of our hearts.

If you’re reading this, I’m assuming your heart doesn’t fall into the hardened category. You haven’t rejected God’s Word, nor are you attempting to live in your own wisdom or by your own ingenuity. That means you must be cultivating or weeding the soil of your heart. Even those of us who have worked to develop good soil, must diligently keep it.

 Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23

Uproot Unbelief

So, let’s look at some of the thorns that may be growing up in our hearts and robbing us of our benefits in Christ. One of the thorns many of us need to examine is unbelief. As we discussed earlier, we must become a “doer of the Word” if we expect that Word to work in our lives. And to become a doer of the Word, we must believe it so that our faith gives birth to those corresponding actions.

Another thorn we’ve discussed is the relationship we have with money. Jesus said, “You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24). And although no one purposefully seeks to serve money, we have all probably found ourselves allowing money to be our master in the decision-making process. Remember, masters call the shots and servants follow through.

I can be a sucker for this. Every time I go into a clothing store, my wife says, “You’re like a moth drawn to a flame when it comes to clearance sections.” I remember buying a pair of shoes once that were an amazing deal. The original price was close to $150, but they were marked down to $30. The only problem was they were two sizes too small! Every time I wore those shoes, I thought about what a deal they’d been, until I started getting pains in my upper thigh. In that situation, finances told me what to wear.

You see, money makes a great servant but a lousy master!

We can’t allow finances to be the biggest voice in our heads. That warps our relationship with money and elevates it to master status. At the same time, it decreases the influence we are allowing God to have in our decision-making process. But in Matthew, Jesus said that place of authority belongs only to God.

 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matthew 6:33

Again, we need to get to the point where we are leading our finances—with the help of the Holy Spirit— rather than allowing our finances to lead us!

The Cares of This World

 This entire chapter in Matthew exhorts us to not worry about the things we’re going to eat and drink and wear. Worry, or the cares of this world, is a thorn that can choke the Word! Worry exalts. It brings trivial things to the forefront of our minds and subtly makes them idols. When we let money be the biggest voice in our heads, we remove God from His rightful position. But God promised that if we keep Him in first place, He’ll make sure our trivial needs are met. I once heard a minister say, “Obey God, and leave the consequences to Him!”

Sometimes we worry we are making a wrong decision, even when we have sought the Lord. But what this minister is saying is that when you believe you are making decisions based on God’s voice, even if you miss it, God is still big enough to handle it! We will make mistakes. That is a given. In fact, that’s why we needed a Savior in the first place!

 Stay in peace by cultivating your personal relationship with God so that His voice becomes clearer to you. Start with little things and then move on to bigger decisions. There may come a time when God instructs you to give money, or even spend money, because it ultimately will bless someone else. Hearing God’s direction is much more important than allowing your checkbook to make the calls.

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Colossians 3:15

The Amplified Bible, Classic Edition says, “And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds].” In a baseball game, the umpire is the one who calls the play safe or out. An umpire makes decisions. This verse teaches us to allow the peace of God to make decisions for us, not our pocketbooks!

Analog Thinking in a Digital World

Sometimes the thorns that creep into our hearts are less obvious. Sometimes the thorns that hinder us from experiencing financial provision come in the form of worldly viewpoints or wrong expectations. As humans, we have a God-given desire to succeed, which means we often do everything we can to avoid failure. We tend to limit what we can do with what we’ve already done or at least what we’ve seen done. “This is the way my father did it,” we say, or, “I know this will work; I heard so-and-so did it,” or, “I don’t think so. I’ve never seen anyone do that.”

 I like to call it analog thinking in a digital world. Analog thinking works if you live in an analog world. But we don’t. Not only does our world function differently because of our faith, this natural world has changed since our parents’ and grandparents’ time. It’s even changed since last year!

This type of thinking is based on the status quo. It doesn’t consider God’s Word or utilize the creativity—the ideas and dreams—He’s given to each of us. If our minds are focused only on the natural world, and the way things have always been done before, it is easy to limit what we can experience of God’s provision. A person whose family has struggled for generations—or who lives in a poor country, who has no formal education, who doesn’t see any way to prosper in the natural, etc.—will continue in that condition unless there is a change in mindset.

We no longer live in the Agricultural Age when every person physically supplied food for his family and hoped to sell the excess to buy whatever else was needed. We no longer live in the Industrial Age when a person went to school, learned a skill, got a job, and retired at age fifty-five with a pension. We live in the Information Age, and this age requires different thinking.

 I understand that trying to think in a new way is daunting. It goes against our desire to avoid failure. But I find the Information Age exciting! Everyone now has access to the same set of information. It doesn’t matter if you’re from America or Malawi. It doesn’t matter if you were born in a wealthy family or on the “wrong side of the tracks.” Your background does not limit what you can and can’t accomplish in life.

The Internet created a level playing field. Concepts that used to cost thousands of dollars to learn are now available at the touch of a button. Business models that, in the past, took years of trial and error to prove are now accessible in a half hour. It’s amazing!

You no longer have to go to school, learn a skill, and retire on that skill. If you’ve dreamed of opening a small business, you can go online, research appropriate business models, learn how to create a business plan, and then register your new business in less than a day. With all that information, your chances of success are much greater than in previous generations.

 Education is extremely important in any age, but in this age, we need to ensure we’re being educated in the right things. For years, schools have tried to educate kids like they were still in the Industrial Age. At one point a few years ago, students were getting degrees in super-specialized areas of personal interest, but they were completely unprepared to market themselves in the workforce.

There are, of course, some jobs that require specialized degrees—and I’m glad they do. I’d hate to have to go to a doctor for legal advice. Neither would I want to fly across the Atlantic if a pilot’s only education was in business accounting. But there’s no point getting a college degree in Klingon. Specialized degrees stand out, but not for marketability! Recently, schools have begun responding to this shift in thinking and have started adding entrepreneurial classes to their graduation requirements, even in elementary school, which I find exciting.

In order to prosper in this new age, we have to make ourselves desirable to an employer or do something that adds value to the marketplace. The good news is there are so many ways to do that now. We can be employed. We can be self-employed. We can own a business. We can invest. We can even do several things at once! I know many people who have full-time jobs and work a business in the evenings or on weekends. I know others who own their own businesses and use their profits to invest.

Opportunities abound. And the Bible declares that we have been given a great advantage!

Who, then, are those who fear the Lord? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land. The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. Psalm 25:12-14 NIV

This blessing works no matter where in the world you may live. A young man from Africa named Kenneth contacted our ministry to tell us how encouraged he had been by this message. He started a business from home, selling chalk and office and school supplies! When you seek the Lord and allow Him to give you creative ideas, He will lead you and open doors of opportunity for you as well.

The only limits to our potential are those we place on ourselves. Just a couple hours a day can make a big difference. I know a man who owns an eBay store. Instead of playing video games to unwind and fill his quiet hours in the evenings, he works his store. The first year he made $5,000 in extra income. The next year it increased, and increased again. Soon he was making over $100,000 a year in his spare time. If he wanted, he could quit his job and easily live off his business income. (Though I think he has plans beyond mere survival!)

Carlie and I have used eBay many times to make extra money. When we lived in England, I actually used eBay to sell cars. But I remember one time when the kids were little, we found a great deal on a wooden train set they loved playing with. We accidently bought one they already had so Carlie put it on eBay. That train set was soon bid up to twice what we paid for it! Carlie went back to the store and bought five more. Over the course of the next week, they all sold. So, she went back and bought every set she could get her hands on. She was listing them by the dozens!

 We’ve done that several times. Sometimes we find collector’s items at yard sales or in thrift stores. We buy them and resell them on eBay or Craigslist. Thanks to the Internet and smart phones, our learning curve has shortened. Now we can look up an item before we buy it to make sure it will sell at a profit.

There are so many opportunities out there to make money or get out of debt. We just need the eyes to see them.

Starting Small

Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin… Zechariah 4:10 NLT

It’s okay to start small. Small things have the potential for growth. But you have to start somewhere. Only God can make something out of nothing! The first place everybody can start is to become employed. If you’re employed, you get paid to make your boss money. Generally, the more money you make for the boss, the more you get paid. You could also be self-employed. If you’re elf-employed, customers pay you to solve their problems. The better you solve their problems, the more customers you get and the more money you make. But both of these types of income have limits.

 There is only so much one person can do. In either of these positions, you’ll eventually find yourself limited by time or education, by strength or resources. However, if you own a business, those limits expand. Now you’re paying others to make you money, and regardless of your personal limits, you can draw on others’ strengths. In a business, whether or not your expertise or presence is there, you make money. Even better, when you invest, your money makes money without your help.

It’s interesting to me that nearly ninety percent of all Americans survive off employment or self-employment earnings, but roughly ninety percent of the money moving around our country goes to business owners and investors! That’s why they say, “The rich get richer.” The amount of money a business owner or investor can make is limitless. Because their profits cease being tied to what they can personally accomplish, and it becomes about their system. Does the system work? Are they surrounded by people who know what they’re doing? Are they marketing effectively? Can they streamline the system to boost profits? Is there another door of opportunity they’ve yet to open?

The amazing thing about the Information Age in which we live is that it doesn’t take special education or skill to develop more than one stream of income. Each of us can keep the security of a full-time, employed position and grow a small business in our spare time. Each of us can get out of debt and put our extra income into investments that will make even more money with little effort on our part.

Obviously, none of this happens overnight, but if we learn to recognize our personal thorns and begin cultivating right thinking—thinking that considers God’s Word above our circumstances—we will discover the opportunities God has surrounded us with. It will become easier to make money and therefore, it will be easier to give, not only our money but also our time.

 Ultimately, the building of our financial wealth is not about us. It’s about establishing God’s covenant.

And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Deuteronomy 8:18