This photo shows a collection of letters written to me by my Mom. Although she had an ample supply of paper, her beautiful cursive almost always filled an entire page, front and back, covering any potential margins. Occasionally she would write an extra thought, perpendicular to the rest of the letter, on top of what should have been margins. Much to my amusement, one time she included a final idea by overlaying the rest of her writing in very large letters.
When we ignore the need for margins as did my letter-writing Mom, it reveals a crowded mind as well as other characteristics. A marginless lifestyle makes it difficult to determine what is important. It also places an undue burden on those close to us who might find “reading” us exasperating.
Jesus told an agricultural parable meant to make us aware of how individual hearts receive and cultivate God’s truth. Concentrate on the third example about choking out the crop.
“Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. When the sun came up it was scorched, and because it did not have sufficient root, it withered. Other seed fell among the thorns, and they grew up and choked it, and it did not produce grain. But other seed fell on good soil and produced grain, sprouting and growing; some yielded thirty times as much, some sixty, and some a hundred times.” And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear had better listen!” Mark 4:3-9 NET
It’s implied that thorns are “the cares of this world”; so who doesn’t encounter them? An overly booked life without margin for reflection on God’s perspective creates an environment that chokes out what God intends to flourish.
Constant busyness or noise (even music), unreasonable demands from others, ever present entertainment opportunities, financial anxiety, multiple information sources, persistent advertising messages woven throughout every nook and cranny of modern life, accumulation of possessions — to name some major thorns — can result in a marginless, illegible life.
Our big challenge is that weeding (cultivation) is never a one and done enterprise. So ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything that currently threatens the growth of the seed of his Word in your life. If it has taken root, ask for his help in pulling it out.
by Kathleen Petersen
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