Unplowed Ground

Day 295:  Hosea 10, Psalm 145 & Jeremiah 46

In the last few weeks I've been reminded of the Parable of the Sower from Matthew 13.  In that story Jesus tells us that a farmer went out to sow seed in his field.  Some of the seed fell on the path that he walked through his field and the birds came and ate it.  Some seed fell on rocky soil where it sprouted quickly because there was only thin layer of soil so there was no where but up for the plant to grow.  However, it soon wilted because of the lack of soil.  Some seed feel on soil that had lots of weeds which grew up faster than the plant and soaked up the sun, water and nutrients so the plant starved.  But there was a lot of seed that fell on the good soil, plowed, fertilized, weeded and free of rock soil.  The seeds there grew and produced a great harvest.

Jesus goes on in that chapter to explain that the farmer is God, the seed is His Word and the soil represents the conditions of the heart onto which the seed falls.  However, satan is also involved because he is blamed for snatching the seed away that falls on the path (the birds eat it).  The rocks and weeds are spiritual and physical distractions that minimize growth and end up producing nothing.

I've preached that story many times.  I've approached it from the standpoint of the churches role in spreading seed.  I've talked about the church and christians doing the early work of preparing the soil so that a larger portion is considered "good" so that the return is greater.  I've shared how all the soil may look alike from the top but a few inches under is where you find the rocks and roots so you need to dig a little in order to get things cleared.  And recently we've looked at satan's roll in stealing seed and "planting" rocks and weeds in an attempt to stifle and stop an individuals growth.

But today I was reading in Hosea 10 and I read something that made me look at this Matthew 13 passage from a different perspective again.  In verse 12 of Hosea 10 Hosea is speaking to the people from God and he says, "Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground;  for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you."

Something that my father once told me came to my mind, "God blesses you in the areas of your life where you are faithful to Him."  If you are faithful with your stewardship of God's resources He will bless you in the area of finances.  If you are faithful in your prayers, your job, your relationships, with your children toward God, He will bless you according to the areas in your life you are faithful to Him.  So I can be faithful to God in one area of my life even if I am unfaithful in another (this is not a goal or a loophole it is a reality for many Christians).  God is able to bless me where I am faithful to Him and discipline me where I am not.

Then I read Hosea give two commands to the people, sow righteousness in order to reap unfailing love.  Which just means, trust God in every aspect of your life - Abraham obeyed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.  It wasn't that Abraham did everything right, quite the contrary if you read his story, but Abraham believed God when He spoke.  Believed Him when He said, I'll make you into a great nation... In your old age your wife will conceive and give birth to a son... Leave your home and go to the land I will show you... We sow righteousness by believing what God has said and then acting on that belief in our lives.  Here's an example.  I trust what God has to say about my finances when I return to Him 10% of what He gives.   I then live that out by actually giving that tithe faithfully, freely and happily.  I am trusting God and acting on His Word which means I am sowing righteousness in the area of my finances and I should expect to reap unfailing love.

But the second command is that we break up the unplowed ground and this is what got me thinking.  In my life I can have areas where I have good soil, hard packed soil, rocky soil and weeds.  Where I may be faithful in one spiritual area of my life I may be unfaithful in another.  While I may trust God financially I may not trust Him relationally.  I may trust Him in service and sacrifice but forget what He's said about sexual immorality.

It's not enough for me to sow righteousness where the soil of my life is fertile and prepared to receive that seed, I have to be actively clearing the unplowed ground, enlarging the field of turned soil.  Removing the rocks, pulling the weeds up by the root and aerating the packed soil.  Hosea's encouragement is to get busy doing this, seeking the Lord's help in revealing those areas of bad soil, until He comes and showers righteousness on you.  That's sounds pretty amazing to me!

So I want to work to seek out those areas of my life where the soil has been abandoned or even packed down firm and begin to till those areas up.  I will pray for God's help in revealing those areas that I'm not aware of (though there are plenty of areas I am already aware of).  I will use removed the rocks and the weeds according to His Word - so I know what a rock is and weed is and don't pull up anything good!  And I will use His Word to fertilize that soil so that when the seed is sown it has every possible chance of sprouting AND producing fruit.

Here's to playing the dirt and reaping a great crop!