Be thankful for the thorns and thistles, which keep you from being in love with this world, and becoming an idolater.
Interpretation
Appreciate the challenges in life that prevent unhealthy attachments to worldly desires.
In this quote, Spurgeon emphasizes the importance of being grateful for life's hardships, which serve to remind us not to become overly attached to materialistic or superficial aspects of the world. The thorns and thistles symbolize struggles and obstacles that can ultimately lead to a deeper understanding of what's truly valuable, steering us away from idolatry and towards a more meaningful existence.
In practice
During a speech about resilience, you might say, 'Remember to be thankful for the thorns and thistles that shape us.'
Amusement should be used to do us good “like a medicine”: it must never be used as the food of the man...Many have had all holy thoughts and gracious resolutions stamped out by perpetual trifling. Pleasure so called is the murderer of thought. This is the age of excessive amusement: everybody craves for it, like a babe for its rattle.
When you see no present advantage, walk by faith and not by sight. Do God the honor to trust Him when it comes to matters of loss for the sake of principle.
It is far easier to fight with sin in public than to pray against it in private.
You will never glory in God till first of all God has killed your glorying in yourself.
After faith comes repentance, or, rather, repentance is faith's twin brother and is born at the same time.
["All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant."] The original Hebrew word that has been translated "paths" means "well-worn roads' or "wheel tracks," such ruts as wagons make when they go down our green roads in wet weather and sink in up to the axles. God's ways are at times like heavy wagon tracks that cut deep into our souls, yet all of them are merciful.
When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.
The quality of any advice anybody has to offer has to be judged against the quality of life they actually lead.
The greatest fault is to be conscious of none.
Age helps one to acquire some of the perspectives necessary to create harmony among apparent contradictions.
Looking back, of course, it was irresponsible, mad, forlorn, idiotic, but if you don't take chances then you'll never have a winning hand, and I've no regrets.
Suffering prepares you by training you to trust God and know that He is always at work in your life.
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