"Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity." (Luke 8:14)

It's been said that when attempting to boil a frog, if you start by boiling the water and put the frog in the boiling water, it will jump out. If, however, you begin by placing the frog in water that's room temperature, and then slowly increase the heat, the frog fails to recognize the gradual change in water temperature. Before the frog knows it, the water temperature is greater than it can bear, and it dies.

I wouldn't suggest harming a poor frog in that manner, but the lesson is obvious. In a slow, subtle, undetectable manner, we can be choked with the cares, riches, and pleasure of this life.

Let us not let anything choke our spirituality and thereby destroy us.