Tuesday, July 30, 2013

The Eyes of The Farmer

"For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: 'Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns.' " - Jeremiah 4:3 NKJV

This is a good thought.

"Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor, And for lack of justice there is waste." Proverbs 13:23 NKJV

There is food waiting to be planted and harvested in the fallow ground. A farmer can look at an empty field and imagine the yield that one day could come from that place.

"Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you." Hosea 10:12 NKJV

How much of what God does is preparation? How much of what we do is? Is that time wasted? Prayer time... Slow steady investment time... Is that time wasted?

The seed will be wasted if sown on the wild soil or the thorny soil of our hearts. It just isn't going to take root. Soil preparation is not fruit production. You can till the soil all you want but with no seed the ground will just lie dormant. The poor soul has little grace in it. It has little truth in it. Maybe some wild things grow there but it is not the beautiful garden or the rows and rows of vines overflowing with juice and sweetness that God knows grace and mercy could produce.

What would a few moments with a shovel do? A prayer shovel that attacks the soil. A little fire of conviction where the thorny branches can be burned and disposed of first. What time that might save later.

Then grace and mercy can be added in abundance. Seed, water and care are added and God gives the increase.

"Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground, a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants. He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water. And there he lets the hungry dwell, and they establish a city to live in; they sow fields and plant vineyards and get a fruitful yield. By his blessing they multiply greatly, and he does not let their livestock diminish. When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, evil, and sorrow, he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes; but he raises up the needy out of affliction and makes their families like flocks. The upright see it and are glad, and all wickedness shuts its mouth. Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD." Psalms 107:32-43 ESV

God till my soil. Don't let me be familiar with a barren landscape in my heart... in my city... in my family. Help us take the shovel of prayer to people, places and situations. Then the seed of the Gospel can be sprinkled in that place where the shovel has landed. Love with life in it.

You are the Lord of the Harvest. What do you see in that field?

1 comment:

  1. "He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." Matthew 13:22-23 KJV

    I often think about the difference between the hundredfold and the thirtyfold investment. Same field... same soil... same seed.

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