Preparing to Plant
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1
Preparing to Plant
By Pastor John Dawson
Last month we started a new year. In the newsletter, I wrote about my focus on expanding. The new year is a good time to take stock and make plans. One thing I am thinking and praying for are ways that we can expand our ministry and the Lord’s usefulness right where we are. For me, that includes encouraging and equipping others to do some parts of ministry. This uses their gifts and helps them to grow in Christ. It also adds more ministry because nothing begets ministry like ministry. More people called into various things together creates an environment for new ideas and new (previously unseen) opportunities.
Last month I preached on two parables from Matthew 13 which have the metaphor of planting (these are available on our YouTube channel Abingdon Presbyterian Church PCA). One is the parable of the sower who broadcasts the seed onto the 4 different types of soil. The other was the parable of the wheat and the tares. The goal of the first is seeing the importance of being the fertile soil that produces the good fruit of the spirit in abundance. The second describes the kingdom of God that has both the true believer and the false in the same field. They will be separated in the final harvest of judgment. The goal here is to realize that some will look like Christians and not really know the Lord Jesus as their Savior. And of course, the goal to check and see that you are the good plant that produces the real grain.
In the same agricultural vein as those parables, I’ve been meditating on a verse from Jeremiah (4:3) where the Lord tells his people: Break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns. The Lord was calling them to plant good seed so they would prosper with a bountiful harvest. Breaking up the fallow ground is a call to use the land that had rested. This would be planting in a new area that could be very fertile, but since it had been idle, it may take a bit more work to prepare for planting. And if there had been nothing planted for several seasons, other plants would have volunteered. That is where the second part of the verse comes in: sow not among thorns. The fallow ground had to be broken up to receive the seed. It also had to be cleared of the thorny weeds that would choke the plants and make them unproductive.
As in Jesus’ parables, this word of the Lord was not speaking literally of farming but was telling them how to prosper as his covenant people. The thorns that had crept into their field were things like swearing by other gods and trusting in things beside their Lord God. They are called to circumcise their hearts, i.e., to have the covenant symbol not just on their bodies, but to have the reality of trusting God in their daily lives. Truly, there can be no good harvest if the seed is planted in thorny ground. My thoughts of growing and expanding have included thinking about what things are thorny in my life that need to be pulled up. What are the habits that may not look all that bad, but they do not lead me closer to Christ?
One of the things I need is rest and refreshment. The older I get, the more I need. But what gives real rest and refreshment? It is easy to veg out and watch a meaningless show or movie. There may be nothing wrong with the show, and yet is this really something that gives the refreshment I need? Something may entertain me, but will it truly refresh me? Will it cause me to have greater appreciation of the Lord and greater understanding of myself and others? Will it increase my awareness of God’s love for me increase my thankfulness to God?
This is one area where I feel the challenge to weed the ground where I plant. What about you? Are there cleverly disguised thorns in your field? Together, let’s plant and grow but keep a lookout for the thorns that will hinder the harvest.
Happy weeding,
Pastor John