CULTIVATE THE FALLOW GROUND
The prophet Hosea writes, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD” (Hosea 10:12, emp. added). The prophets often illustrated God’s truths from nature or from an agrarian viewpoint. They saw land that was generally plowed and sowed in crops laying idle; land that normally was productive was left lifeless, useless, and nonproductive (fallow). In Exodus 23:11, God required Israel to allow their ground to be fallow one year in seven. The fallow ground of Hosea was fallow, period! It was a graphic picture of carelessness and indifference in the people’s lives. Jeremiah joined the chorus of Hosea by writing, “Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns” (Jeremiah 4:3, emp. added). Great food for thought!
Nothing is as cold as lead, yet nothing is so scalding as molten lead. There is nothing so blunt as iron, yet nothing so sharp if sharpened. There is nothing so merciful as God’s love, yet if He is provoked nothing is more terrible than His wrath. “Break up the fallow ground” (Hosea 10:12; Jeremiah 4:3) is picturesque. There is nothing so ineffective in the Christian as a forsaken, barren, or fallow life. Do we like a personal faith that produces no fruit for Christ? Are we content to not produce the fruit of the Spirit—“love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23)?
“Fallow ground” is to be broken-up; i.e. to be cultivated. Why? Because fallow ground produces no fruit. God is looking for fruit of the Spirit in the Christian’s life. Jesus stated, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (John 15:8, emp. added). Productiveness is God’s order in the life of the Christian. This was true under the Patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations too! What is the quality of our fruit? We are paying a high price in our personal life, and the church, for the convenient luxury of ignoring producing Christian fruit. Perhaps, we fail to produce godly fruit because of our difficulties, burdens, and trials of life, but this is no excuse.
Have you ever heard of driving an old rusty nail in a barren fruit tree to make it produce fruit? I read a story of a fruit man whose daughter had read of the idea in an old farm book. She made great light of it. Her father had a fruit tree that had been barren for a long time. The farmer went out at night, as he did not want anyone to see him, and drove several old rusty iron nails into the trunk of the tree. A couple years passed and the tree began to produce fruit again. In fact, it was bowed to the ground with its crop of fruit. A Davey tree expert heard what happened and said, “What happens is that it lets loose the chlorophyll.” Does this work? I don’t know if it does or not, but I know in our barrenness and unfruitfulness as Christians that a “few nails” (burdens, trials) can be used to help us produce fruit. Consider:
“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word” (Psalm 119:67). “I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me” (Psalm 119:75). “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4). “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulations” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4a).
A Christian with a fallow life is an unsightly life; i.e. lacking the beauty and character that God expects. God expects the Christian to be spiritual. He does not expect our lives to be as that “which appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness” (Matthew 23:27). God expects Christians to manifest the beauty of holiness. “Give to the LORD the glory due to His name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:2, emp. added). Why? “Because He is your LORD, worship Him” (Psalm 45:11). “And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us” (Psalm 90:17). If we so live, God “will beautify the humble with salvation” (Psalm 149:4).
Can we say with accuracy, and yet as an observation and judgment, that because of the fallow ground of so many Christians our country and society have fallen on evil days. It is wintertime in our nation and society. Christianity is demonized as a religion. The demonization has not been reduced to the level where Christians are demonized individually. While neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, I believe, in time, the individual Christian will suffer great persecution for the cause of Christ as in centuries past, UNLESS the Christian awakens and begins to produce the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) in his life, UNLESS the Christian becomes the salt of the Earth (Matthew 5:13), UNLESS the Christian sheds his Christian light abroad in the world that God may be glorified (Matthew 5:14-16).
We are not to be ashamed to say we are Christians and we are to radiate the power of Christ in our life (Philippians 4:13). Why are Christians often so ashamed of God, the Bible, the church, Christianity, etc.? Is not the principle John speaks of in 1 John 4:4 true? “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Believe this! Live like this! I believe the text with all of my being. If you believe it stronger than I do, it is only because you have a greater ability to do so. How do I cultivate a heart that is fallow? How, as a Christian, do I become turned around? It begins, the life of the Christian, with repentance; i.e. a change of mind demonstrated with a change in life. In other words, how do I live “the beauty of holiness?” Consider the hymn “Take Time to be Holy.”
Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His word.
Make friends of God’s children; help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessings to seek.
Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone.
Abiding in Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul;
Each tho’t and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shall be fitted for service above.
(William D. Longstaff, ca. 1882)
W. Terry Varner
General Editor
Sufficient Evidence