There are a lot of attitudes, inherited from one generation to another, that through the course of time end up seeming so normal to us that we would never consider to evaluate them. They are so obviously true that even daring to question them would make most people doubt your mental health, or think of you as some kind of fanatic. But some of these attitudes are wrong, and history teaches us that we can be thankful for people who have dared to think differently.

When it comes to the Christian faith there are also many things we say, or attitudes towards different things that we unconsciously inherit from our parents, culture, and friends. They seem so right, but if someone were to ask “why is it true?”, we would not be able to point to the Bible for proof. And this is a problem because the Bible should be our primary guide when it comes to life.

I'm sure that we could mention many things, and I'm not saying that I don't have any wrong attitudes inherited from my background, but I am willing to learn and question the things I've always believed because I know that truth will stand the test.

Something to fall back on
One of the areas that many would never dare to question is the area of education. Now, education is good and we should never stop educating ourselves, but in today's society we have created a system that we want all people to go through.

When teenagers leave high school, it's obvious that they should find some other kind of educational path to start on. Maybe they don't know what they want, but they have to choose something. Maybe they feel a call from God, but this must by no means interfere with them getting some kind of education. After all, they can serve God as they are going through college; they just have to make sure that serving God doesn't affect their education. They can serve God fully after the graduation, and then they also have something to fall back on if things should not work out.

It sounds so reasonable, so right, so logical and so true, so what could possibly be wrong?

But what about God's will? Shouldn't that come first?

Many would argue that God is not against education, and I totally agree, but He is very much against putting anything before Him, and that includes your education. Jesus did not say: seek first his kingdom and his righteousness after you have completed an education, and all these things will be given to you as well. Some might argue that we can seek God first, as we are taking our education, and I totally agree – if God has called you to take an education.

If God has not called you to do that, it will be hard to seek Him first, as you are living in disobedience. The truth is that if you start your studies in disobedience, you'll most likely end them as a lukewarm Christian with a badly damaged conscience after years of disobeying God.

Is God against young people taking an education? No, but He is against people doing things just because they are following the social norm without really asking Him what He wants.

In today's society education is one of those things you just have to do without questioning or else you'll be sorry later. If you seek God about it, then you are only supposed to ask Him: “What education should I take?” and never think about asking Him: “God, do you want me to take an education?”. After all, it's always God's will for everyone to have a secular education besides serving Him because if His plan fails, then He needs you to have a backup plan, which He doesn't have.

Is this really so? I guess we would not put it exactly like this, but that is what we are saying through our actions – and actions speak louder than words.

If you take an education, hoping to have something to fall back on, after serving God for some years, you will be disappointed because in today's society information in many fields changes so quickly that the education you took 10 years ago is most likely to be outdated today. Researchers even say that the most attractive jobs 10 years from now do not even exist today.

If God calls you to take an education, then by all means do it! God is calling people to take different educations because He needs more than full-time preachers. But don't do it just because you want to be like everyone else and because you don't know what to do with your life. Seek God first, and wait for Him to show you what to do.

When we read about Saul in the Bible, we see that God rejected him because he was not careful to obey everything the Lord had said. When the prophet did not come at the time they had agreed and the people around got restless, he took matters in his own hands. To some it might seem a reasonable thing to do. After all, the prophet was late, the people were restless and the enemy was getting closer.

But God is never too late! It's better to be late for an appointment and obey God than to take things in your own hands. Moses did the same mistake as Saul and it resulted in Ishmael, who is the father to the Arabs, the origin of the Muslim population.

Taking the will of God for your life lightly can have serious consequences, and is not really compatible with having Jesus as Lord. Social norms make us do, think or have many things – but they have not been created by God.

Our social norms have been created by carnal people who don't have an eye for what comes after this life. They don't consider Heaven or Hell, but live their life here on earth, trying to make it as pleasant as possible. That is why God is telling us not to be conformed to this world.

• Romans 12:1-2
  Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

In The Message translation of the Bible it says: “...Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God.” We should live our life here on earth with a focus on eternity.

When it comes to our spiritual growth it's not entirely up to God. Yes, He is the one that makes things grow, but we have a part to play when it comes to sowing the seed. Many sow lots of seeds in their own heart, reading the Bible, praying and so on, but without any big results. The problem is not the word of God, but the soil the word is planted in. This is what Jesus is teaching us in Mark chapter four, and here he also reveals some very dangerous weeds. Our hearts should be like a beautiful garden, but the truth is that the heart of many Christians looks more like a forest of worldliness. Instead of preparing the soil and removing the weeds we pour new seeds in our forest, letting everything grow wild.

There is a rising number of Christians today that are really hungry for more of God, and during the latest years the Christian media have been reporting several different outpourings. People are flocking to the different outpourings, hoping to get some new revelation or a spiritual breakthrough.

It's encouraging to see more and more Christians seeking God, hungry for revival, longing to see lost people saved. But why don't we see more happening, especially here in Europe? We hear reports of mighty miracles, like the dead being raised, from third world countries, but here in the West we see so little spiritual power.

Is it because God doesn't want to demonstrate His power here? No, I don't think so, because the Bible says that God is no respecter of person, and that He wants all people to get saved. He wants to do mighty things here in Europe, but there is something that chokes Christians and makes them unfruitful.

Now, you might think that it's the devil or his demons that are choking them, but that's not completely true. Surely the devil has had his influence, but the Christians are doing the choking very well on their own. The answer is found in Mark 4:18-19.

• Mark 4:18-19
  Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

Jesus is saying that it was the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things that were choking the word. In Matthew 13:24-30 we learn that these things are weeds the devil has sown into the world we are living in.

• Matthew 13:24-30
  Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

When Jesus is praying for His disciples in John 17:15, we see that He does not want to take us out of this world yet - but He is asking God to protect us. The Bible has strong warnings when it comes to our relationship with the world, and this is because the world is full of weeds. We must take heed and constantly be alert, so that the enemy doesn't plant His seed in the garden of our life.

The forest of worldliness
Many Christians have not been alert. They have not taken heed to how much the world is influencing them. The result is that you can hardly see any difference between the forest of worldliness around them and their "garden of life".

Many of them are born-again Christians with a sincere longing for more of God. They come to church, read their Bible and pray, but still they see so little of God’s power in their everyday life. I'm sure that many of them really wish they had more time to pray and read the word of God, but there is so much to be done. The daily routine and cares of this life are so numerous that it's just impossible.

When they get the chance, they take time off to go to some kind of conference or outpouring. Then they let new and refreshing seeds from God rain down on their garden, which actually almost looks like a forest.

The seeds are sown, they are happy, and they go home to their daily routine to take care of the responsibilities of life. After all, they have to go to work, their kids have a dozen of different activities and hobbies, they have to renovate their shack, keep the house in order and make sure that all the bills get paid.

Now you might wonder if it's wrong to have a house or to pay your bills, but this is not the case. The problem is that too many have filled their life with so much that their garden looks like a forest of worldliness. All the other couples they know send their kids to kindergarten all day, so that they can work two full-time jobs. Their friends are involved in different hobbies so why shouldn't they? Their friends’ kids go to several different activites every week, so to be like the rest they send their kids to soccer practice, boy scouts, swimming and junior church club. Besides all the activities the kids go to school and the parents have to make sure they do their homework.

There is a reason why the Bible tells us to take heed. It's because it's so easy to be caught up in daily routines that we suddenly find ourselves spending 80% of our time to maintain our life, and 20% on God. This life is just a preperation for the next, and still we spend most of our time doing things that concern this life, and very little time doing what God has told us to do. 

In 2.Timothy 2:4 Paul is saying: "No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier." Still this is exactly the situation for many Christians - they have entangled themselves with the affairs of this life.

This does not mean that we should neglect the duties of life, but we don't have to live a life exactly as the world around us. The unsaved people around us that are setting the standard for what a normal life should look like don't take into consideration that there is a life after this. The devil has done a good job here in the West, making sure that the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things keep people away from seeking God.

The problem is that many Christian look at the weeds that the devil has sown, thinking: "That looks nice! I think I want some of that in my garden, too". God has specifically warned us to not develop any love for this world (James 4:4), and He has told us not to conform ourselves to the norm of the world around us (Romans 12:1-2). Still this is what many Christians are consciously trying to do - some even put an effort in becoming more like the world.

Then we wonder why we see so little spiritual power. The truth is that the lives of many Christians are like a forest of worldliness and not like a beautiful garden. We like the worldliness, so we don't try to remove it, and at the same time we want more of God. So instead of cleaning up our garden, we just sow the seed of the word of God on top of all the weeds that are planted in our hearts - hoping that it will produce some new revelation. We might have "seed-potential" for amazing revelations that would produce great spiritual power, but since we don't take time to remove weeds like the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things, we never see the change we hope for.

So examine yourself, remove the weeds from your heart, and prepare the ground of your heart. Don't try and be like everyone else, don't be conformed to this world, but let the word of God renew your mind.

Living the Christian life is like having a garden in the middle of the forest. You know that the forest will supply your garden with lots of weeds, and if you don't keep a constant watch the weeds will quickly take over. In the Gospel of Mark chapter four Jesus is giving us some very important insights on what kind of weeds we should make sure to get rid of...

In the Gospel of Mark chapter four Jesus is telling the parable of the sower, where He basically is explaining the effect the Word of God has on different people. He uses the different type of soils as examples of different kinds of heart's and shows how the different kind of attitudes either can hinder or promote spiritual growth.

• Mark 4:13-20
  Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown."

One of these soils are very much a good description of the general “state of heart” the people here in the west are suffering from. It's the part of the parallel where He is talking about the seed that fell among thorns.

The thorns did not stop the seed from growing, but it just made sure that the seed did not grow up to produce fruit. In the same way we can look at Christianity in the west, and conclude that the devil has not stopped it. There are more churches, bible schools and theological seminaries than most other places in the world. Many of the european countries even has Christianity as their state religion.

But still Christianity in Europe has a big lack of power. We have more knowledge about the Bible, history, and philosophy than other continents, but we lack the spiritual fruits that should follow. We know that Jesus healed the sick and cast of devils, that the spiritual world is real and that the first disciple walked in the same power Jesus operated in. But the supernatural dimension we read about in our Bible, is just not part of out daily life.

To excuse the obvious lack of power, many Christians create doctrines explaining why we don't see the same supernatural manifestations today. This prevents us from feeling guilt or searching our own hearts for why there is such a obvious lack of power.

When Jesus explains the parable to His disciples, He reveals that the things that is choking the word of God, making it unfruitful, is three things.

• The worries of this life
  
• The deceitfulness of wealth
  
• The desires for other things
  

I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but I think it's safe to say that all three of these things exists in abundance in the hearts of most Christians in the west. If we should take a honest look at the things occupying the minds of europeans, a big percentage would be things that go under the category: Worries of this life, wealth and desires for other things.

If you don't worry about things concerning this life, like work, study, where to live, food, clothing and so on you would quickly be looked upon as irresponsible. Even though Jesus directly tells us not to worry about this life.

• Matthew 6:25,30-31, 33-34
  "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear... If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?... But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

This does not mean that it's wrong to have a place to live, wear nice cloths and eat good food – but God does not want these things to become the focus of our life. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus is saying: “... seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”.

God have put you here on earth with a purpose, and it's not go get a PhD. and being able to enjoy luxury. He have put you here on earth because he want you to be His co. worker here on earth. God has an agenda and He has invited you to help. It's not because He's not able to do it alone, but He has given us the privilege of participating in His mission.

When we join Him, focusing on fulfilling His plans, He has no problem with blessing us – but He wants our focus to be right.


Strong warnings
The Bible has strong warnings when it comes to our attitudes to the world we are living in, and it's not without reason.

• In James 4:4 it is written:
  You adulterous people,t don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

• And in 1. John 2:15-17 it is written:
  Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Fathert is not in them.For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

God knows that the world we are living in is full of weeds, and weeds has a tendency to spread like wildfires. If you have a garden close to a forest you know that you will have to put in extra work in keeping the garden free of weeds. Because in the forest there are lots of weeds and they are spreading fast. If your garden is close to the forest the weeds from the forest will constantly try to take over your garden.

In the same way our life is like a garden placed in the middle of a forest. There are weeds everywhere, and if we don't daily pull up the weeds by the roots, they will take over our garden in no time.

The result will be that the Word of God planted in our heart will grow up, but it will grow up together with weeds. This will empty the word of it's power to transform our life and make us unfruitful in the eyes of God. We might have the right knowledge and know all the right answers, but there will be no spiritual power.


Remove the weeds before seeking new revelation
So often we go from conference to conference, searching for some king of new revelation that will boost our spiritual life and bring change. But the problem is that as long as our hearts are full of weeds, the new revelation will not produce any lasting change. We might sow a new seed, it might grow up, but the thorns will “... choke the word, making it unfruitful”.

Before we seek new revelation or go of to some new bible school we should prepare the soil of our hearts, removing the things that Jesus said would choke the word. We should examine our self, making sure that the worries of this life, wealth and desires for other things are filling our thoughts. Instead we should constantly be renewing our minds, so that we will be able to understand what God wants.

• Romans 12:2
  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

It's so easy to be conformed to the society we live in, striving after the same things and worrying about the same issues. This is why we daily need to spend time with God, letting the Holy Spirit guide and letting the Word of God renew us.

Don't just live along thinking that everything will work out in the end. You are living in a world that is in opposition to the Kingdom you have inside of you. If you are walking around with your guard down, you will be conformed to this world. If you don't pull up the weeds as soon as they appear, they will take over your garden. Take heed to the warning the Bible gives us, because they are just as relevant today as when where written.