Hosea 10:12
Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.
I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plough up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’
Two different translations - same message!
There used to be a practice of letting a field lie "fallow" for a year after much sowing and reaping.
It was to let the land rest and be replenished.
After that year of doing nothing, it was down to the farmer to break up the hard ground by ploughing it, letting the rain soak it and plant seeds for a crop.
Without the ploughing, the rain couldn't penetrate properly and nothing could grow.
Here the Lord is likening our hearts and lives to such a field.
He's saying it's time to break up that part of our life that has become hard, dry, barren and unproductive.
Honestly, for many of us, this time of restrictions and lockdowns may have left us feeling like a fallow field.
"What can be done for an old heart like mine, soften it up with oil and wine" says the old Keith Green song:
If you feel like this today, make it a prayer and Our Loving Lord Jesus will come and renew your life in Him, raining down His love into your heart.
He knows, He cares. He knew what it meant to withdraw and seek His Heavenly Father and be renewed for the task ahead. In His humanity, he must have known what it meant to feel mentally and physically drained.
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Luke 5:16
After dealing with the crowds bringing hope and healing, even Jesus needed to be replenished in solitude with His Heavenly Father.
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