Thorns should stand as two needed reminders for us:

1. Thorns remind us of the curse of sin that rests upon every human being. Thorns pierce and tear human flesh, symbolizing the sweat and toil to which fellow human beings are consigned. Now read Genesis 3:17-19.

¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;     through painful toil you will eat food from it     all the days of your life. ¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you,     and you will eat the plants of the field. ¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow     you will eat your food until you return to the ground,     since from it you were taken; for dust you are     and to dust you will return.”

2. Thorns remind us of God’s correction to our tendencies to wander from His way. Generally, thorns are unable to grow in the middle of the road, thus they are thickest where we ought not to travel.

Think about these two reminders given us by thorns, and be thanksful even for God’s chastening.

Thank God for thorns!