Break up your fallow ground
For it is time to seek the LORD
Hosea 10:12
Fallow isn’t a word I use every day... So what does it mean? When I really think about it, questions whirl around in my mind. Do I even have fallow ground? And if my ground is fallow, what is my ground? How do I break it up?
Well, I looked it up. Fallow ground is potential farmland that is undisturbed. It is good ground that has not yet been prepared for seed. It has to be broken up with a hoe so the seed can go down into the ground, grow and bear fruit.
God is always giving us pictures from every day life to help us understand spiritual truths. So this verse is actually saying it is planting season, (time to seek the Lord), and we need to prepare our hearts, (fallow ground), to better receive Him and the blessings He wants to produce in our lives. So naturally, my next question is this—How do I break it up?
The answer I guess is in choosing the right tools. I mean, it would be difficult to break up hard, undisturbed ground with my bare hands. Even with gloves, my hands couldn’t chop it up. So I need something with a sharp edge and a long handle for leverage—a hoe.
Ok, bear with me for just a minute... I am going somewhere with this. I’m thinking about real life—our family life. This is after all, a faith reflection for our family. In order to have God move and work in our family relationships, it has to begin with my heart and me. If I’m not willing to break up my own hard places, how can I receive the seed of God’s mercy and see the good fruit of good relationships grow in my family? It has to begin with my own heart. That means I have to allow the Holy Spirit to chop up the things I’m holding onto—offenses, stubbornness, my way of doing things. It’s the Holy Spirit who actually does the breaking, but it is me who has control. Do I want to do the work and swing this thing into motion?
Yes, we have a long row to hoe, (excuse the pun), but I love my family and I want God’s best. The bottom line is this; if I want to see anything grow, and if I want to enjoy the fruit, I have to do the labor. I have to put my back into it and break up the fallow ground so it can receive the seed. I can’t do it in my own strength, but with God, all things are possible. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
I’m expecting good things to come of my garden. I'm setting my family table with some big salad bowls and getting ready to enjoy the fruit of this labor.
Terri
This message is very meaningful! The Lord has been plowing in my heart these past three years. I recently decided to go all out and plant a vegetable garden and let me just say, I worked like a man. It was hard work plowing and turning the soil, making it ready for planting. The Lord taught me some valuable lessons through my garden. He was going deep within to bring out those roots of bitterness and anger. He has been replacing them with joy, love and forgiveness.I realize He is not finished with me. Yet I am encouraged seeing those little vegetables sprout both within my physical and spritual garden as well.
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