What do my pastor’s sermons, my personal Bible study, and the Presidential inauguration ceremony have in common? Sometimes the same thoughts and scriptural contexts seem to surface in multiple places, almost as if God is trying to tell me something. This week, I’ve reflected on making sure my heart is ready to receive what God’s Word has to say.
The first scripture that caught my attention on that topic was Hosea 10:12, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and rains righteousness on you.”
It’s been a minute since I spent much time with my farming relatives, but the concept of “fallow” fields gave me a couple of things to think about. While it is generally considered good to rotate crops or allow a field to sit for an occasional season for organic matter to regenerate, in the Bible the term “fallow” can also imply that a field has been left unplowed for so long that it becomes hardened, defeating the very purpose of regeneration and difficult to plow up and start being used again.
This is likely the context of the Hosea verse, as the prophet urged the Israelites to soften their hearts toward hearing from God. Jesus may have been referring to the same context in the parable of the sower, where some seed fell on thorny soil, which could happen if a field was not properly tended.
In my First 5 study of Genesis, there was discussion this week about chapter 3 and Satan’s temptation of Eve. At the heart of the temptation was the serpent’s question, “Did God really say . . . ?” What happened in Eve’s heart? How did she get sidetracked from what God really DID say, and what happened to the close relationship she and Adam enjoyed with God, that made her susceptible to doubt His care?
Watching the Presidential inauguration ceremony, some of those thoughts surfaced again. While some people perhaps took issue with the incoming President’s directness regarding recent events and policies, in thinking about the years since my childhood (quite a few) and the changes I’ve seen in our national culture, I see many areas where I believe he’s right. While the drift from biblical values cannot all be blamed on any one administration, it shows that our national ground has lain fallow for far too long. Collectively, we need to break up that ground, sow God’s Word and His righteousness back into our nation, and seek him.
I liked the diversity of clergy who closed the ceremony with prayer, showing that we can all agree on the need for wisdom from God. Breaking up that hard, unused ground starts with each one of us, spending time absorbing God’s Word and wisdom, not being afraid to insert it into our personal and public conversations, and holding our leaders accountable to the values on which our country was founded.
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