InTrials they Trumpet Timber and Topple

Mark 4
16Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."

I like the parable of the sower a lot, this is just a small chunk of it, there's a reason I chose it though. Many people who go to church one Sunday hear the salvation message and get all excited, so they become "saved", which is definitely not a bad thing. BUT their joy for the word disappears almost immediately because they are not rooted in the word. They have just heard one or two (possibly out of context) passages. And what happens when we are not rooted? Trouble and persecution come (because of the word) and then these people quickly fall away. They receive the word with joy immediately, don't get rooted, trial comes and they fall away. That fast. The word is not meant to be fast food that you can immediately consume - Jesus spoke in parables- stories with a deeper meaning that one has to dig for sometimes. We can't chow down one meal of the Word and never eat any again, we have to be constantly feasting on it - nourishing our bodies with it. We can't let worry or wealth's deceitfulness or desires for lesser lovers choke out God. If we let these things grow up in us and if we feed them they will surely choke out the word and make it unfruitful. And if the word isn't bearing fruit what's the point of it being there?