" . . . Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns." Jeremiah 4:3
My dictionary defines "fallow ground" as follows: "ground which is plowed but not seeded; untilled and neglected." The prophet likens Israel to a field freshly plowed and then left neglected and idle, not cultivated or tilled and consequently barren. In Hosea 10:12 Jehovah says, "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord." We make the application to the Christian, who, after finding the Lord and being "plowed," goes no farther but allows the soil to grow up in weeds and thistles. How long have you known the Lord? How is the crop progressing? Is there growth and promise of a harvest? Or is your life at a standstill spiritually? The Lord expects fruit from your life. It may be that God is cutting deep into the soil of your soul but it is only because He wants fruit. And so He sends tribulation, testing, and chastening to break up the neglected clods and chunks in your life.
As the farmer breaks the hard clods in the spring, putting the points of the plow deep into the earth and then letting the sharp teeth of the harrow and the drag dig into the soil, the clay might well cry in pain and wonder at it all; but the farmer knows what he is doing, and so he keeps on digging and breaking. The deeper the plow works and the oftener the sharp harrow is pulled across the face of the land, the more precious the crop of fruit will be when the harvest time comes. God's plow goes deep, but only that the fruit may be more abundant, that in the end we may forget the plowing and rejoice in the blessing of bearing much fruit for Him.
If you have not already done so, please take the time to read Isaiah 28:24-29. Be a fruitful field and your reward is sure!
"Bread For Each Day"
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