Micah 7:4

Grow Your Thorns In A Hedge

A thorn hedge. Micah 7:4.

A thorn hedge! That is something we all know. They are as common as blackberries in England, and though the fields and roads in Scotland are bounded mostly by stone walls or “dykes,” still there are not a few hedges to be seen as well. Some of us think a thorn hedge would be improved if it had no thorns. At least, if it were thornless we'd have fewer tears in our clothes and fewer scratches on our hands. What would you think if you lived in Palestine where the plants which bear thorns can grow them one and a half inches long? These are thorns you could call thorns.

Yes, and besides growing long thorns Palestine grows many thorns, so many for its size that it has been styled “the land of thorns.” If I should try to describe to you all its different kinds of thorn bushes it would take me the whole forenoon, for it has about two hundred varieties. Some of them are climbers rather like the blackberry or bramble, but their fruit is red and bitter. They grow in the salt marshes, and the Arabs call them “wolf's grapes.” Some are prickly burrs which get into the shoe or between the bare foot and the sandal. They have a Latin name which means “tribulation,” and it suits them. Others are like gigantic thistles ten to fifteen feet tall. Others still have long, stiff spines that tear a gaping wound. Some are a kind of prickly pear. Others, again, have gummy leaves, and stems and branches of these last are used by the natives to sweep the floors of their houses. They are as good as a mop, for insects and particles of dust stick to the gum.

The thorns flourish on every hillside and on every waste piece of ground. There are whole thickets of them as well as scattered bushes. They are as plentiful as heather on a heather moor and you know how plentiful that is.

Now, you would never choose thorns as a meal, but the amazing thing is that the goats and camels of the Holy Land consider them delicacies. They make straight for the very spikiest of them, and chump them up with great gusto. The mouths of these creatures are lined with particularly tough skin, and that is how they manage it.

The thorns are useful to man too. They are cut with a reaping-hook and taken to the lime-kiln to help to burn lime. But perhaps the best use to which they are put is to make a hedge. Thorn hedges are of two kinds growing and dead. The live thorn hedge is made by planting in a furrow slips of thorn bushes. These slips spring up into thriving plants, and in less than no time they form a splendid thick hedge. The other kind of hedge is formed of cut branches of thorns. They are laid round a patch of land to a height of several feet, and a thickness of two to three feet. Thorn hedges are usually set round vineyards and sheepfolds to keep out robbers and beasts of prey, who might steal the grapes or kill the sheep. Against such there is no better protection.

Boys and girls, I want you to turn all your thorns into hedges. I want you to put your thorns to the best use. What do I mean by your thorns? Well, there are several things I might call your thorns, but what I am specially thinking of is your little hot tempers. You know we all have tempers. Some of us have bigger tempers than others, just as some bushes have crueler, sharper spines.

Now, thorns are one of two things: they are either a hindrance or a protection. They either catch your clothes and scratch your face and hurt you horribly, or they act as protectors to keep off harm from what they are set to guard. What are you going to do with that thorny temper of yours? Are you going to let it hurt everyone that comes in contact with it? Or are you going to plant it in a hedge, trim it neatly, and use its thorns only for defense? Are you going to make it a protector of the weak? Are you going to use it only when a boy smaller than yourself is being ill-treated, or when some poor dumb animal is being tormented, or when some nasty story is being told, or when some dishonorable deed is being proposed? Then is the time to use your thorny temper. Let it prick hard then. Temper is splendid when you use it only on occasions such as these. It is no longer temper. It is what is called “righteous anger.” Christ Himself the gentle Christ knew such anger. He spoke to the mean people and the cruel people and the false people words that wounded like thorns and stung like whips.

So grow your thorns in a hedge. Use your tempers only when you feel that God Himself would be angry. God gave us our tempers, but He meant us to use them wisely. When we make them protectors we are putting them to their noblest use.