Matthew 13:22

And he that was sown among the thorns, this is he that heareth the word; and the care of the world and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

The thorns that choke out the words and cause unfruitfulness in hearers of the word of God are the cares, riches, and pleasures of life. (Luke adds "cares," Luke 8:14.) This represents a class of hearers which may be described as capable of salvation, possessing many excellent qualities, but who subordinate the most important things to secondary considerations and are thus robbed of eternal life. Cares, riches, and pleasures are not, in and of themselves, evil; but a well may be as effectively choked and stopped with a load of flowers as by a load of rotten carcasses.