Jeremiah 4:3
New English Translation (NET)
3 Yes, the Lord has this to say
to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Like a farmer breaking up hard unplowed ground,
you must break your rebellious will and make a new beginning;
just as a farmer must clear away thorns lest the seed is wasted,
you must get rid of the sin that is ruining your lives.
to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Like a farmer breaking up hard unplowed ground,
you must break your rebellious will and make a new beginning;
just as a farmer must clear away thorns lest the seed is wasted,
you must get rid of the sin that is ruining your lives.
Close your eyes.
Imagine two fields side by side.
One is plowed up into straight furrows.
The soil is dark and rich and fertile and receptive to the warm spring
rain. The neighboring field lies
fallow. It is unplowed, untended. It looks cold and hard and useless. Now imagine those fields months later. One is green and full of life and
promise. The other is dotted with sparse
patches of stubborn crab grass and weeds.
Brambles have grown up and taken over.
Francis Chan, in his book, Crazy Love,
references The Parable of the Sower. (Mathew 13:1-18) and makes this comment to
Christians –“Don’t assume you are the good soil”
In December, shortly after Christmas, a beautiful
sister in Christ went home to the arms of Jesus after a long and grueling
battle with cancer. Janet Pate was the
good soil. We were in a bible study
together for years and every time she prayed, every time she testified, every
time she opened her mouth, I wanted to be like her. She was the woman who could quote scripture
from memory to fit any trial or triumph.
She blogged her journey with cancer and had followers from not only
around the country but also around the world.
She videoed shaving her head when her hair began to fall out from the
chemotherapy and she thanked God that the chemo was working as evidenced by the
hair she was losing. Janet was the embodiment of the scriptural directive “In everything give thanks.” She praised the sovereignty of God even in
her worst days and anyone who had ever met her, called her “friend”.
I sat in the Celebration of Life service for Janet
and cried; not just a few stray tears, I cried to the point of feeling drained
when it was all over. I cried not just for
the loss of her on earth or for the sorrow and pain her family and friends would feel in
her absence. I cried because I knew that
I was not the good soil and I wanted to be.
I wanted to plow up the fallow ground of my heart more than ever. I was ready to dig up brambles and thorns that I
had been unwilling to pull up previously.
I thought about my friend, her relationship, her peace in living and in
dying, and I saw how her life meant something.
It meant something for Jesus. It
meant something real. Janet left a
legacy of not just believing in a god but of believing and trusting and loving
God.
...So I prayed.
I asked God to help me get rid of the junk in my way. I asked Him to get me started. He is faithful to answer when we are repentant
and seeking. I remembered something that
Carrie Hurley had said to me on our McPherson Mission Trip. So I called her. I asked her to pray with me and in The Parlor she and Jenna Hall, prayed with me while I
poured out so much useless junk (anger, unforgiveness, fear) that had been
harbored, unconfessed and unresolved for so long. I was so nervous, confessing aloud my
failures and sins. These young women came along side me and helped me begin the
process with God to “plow up the fallow ground.” There is more to this story. I’ll share that in the coming posts but today
I end with this encouragement. “The
journey of a thousand steps begins with one” as the saying goes. Just because you are not good soil today does
not mean that you cannot be good soil.
You have to be willing to admit your condition, confess you sin, and
give God the plow. The process of
plowing, breaking, cutting, stripping away…I’m not going to lie, it hurts in
the beginning, but in light of God’s word in Isaiah 30, particularly verses 1,
9 and 12-15, lying fallow, holding onto those familiar sins, refusing to
submit to God’s will, brings sorrow and bareness. He promises “In return and rest you will be saved; quietness and trust will
be your strength." Don’t drag it
out. Break up your unplowed ground so
that the good seed will not be lost among thorns and do it today.
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