Break Up the Ground

"This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem: 'Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.'"

Jeremiah 4:3

God compares Judah’s hardened, sinful hearts to a field that has long been left untended and has become overgrown with thorns. You can’t sow seed on a field in that condition. You have to prepare the soil first. You have to remove the thorns and plow the field before you plant something new. God is telling His people, “You wouldn’t sow a field without clearing and plowing it first. Do the same with your heart.”

If you want to turn your heart back to the Lord this morning, then you need to clear it of thorns. A lot of people try to change their life by adding a few good things without removing any bad things. They start going to church or reading their Bible or praying, and they don’t understand why their life doesn’t change. They don’t realize that they are casting good seed on soil that can’t receive it. Just as soil can’t receive seed when it is consumed by thorns, so too, your heart can’t receive Jesus when it’s consumed by sin. You can’t just add Jesus to your heart and leave the rest of your life unchanged! If you really want to return to the Lord, cut the thorns of sin out of your life.

But even after you clear your life of thorns, there is still something you must do before you plant new seed. You must plow the hardened soil. This is a metaphor for repentance. Returning to God requires not only getting rid of your sin but also repenting of it. You must be broken over your sin. You have to break up the hard places in your heart and soften them again so you can receive the good seed God wants to plant in you now.

What does this repentance look like? How do we break up the hardened soil of our hearts? In short, we allow ourselves to become heartbroken over the ways we have sinned against God. We grieve over our sin. We humble ourselves before Him. We submit to Him. This is how you take a hard heart and make it soft again.

Has your heart grown hard and untended? Has it grown cold and unyielding to the Spirit’s promptings? If so, remove your sin and break up the soil of your heart this morning with the plow of repentance. Weep over your sin. Humble yourself before God. Make your heart soft and surrender it to Him. Then you'll be ready to receive the new things God has for you.

For further reading…

• James 4:7-10 offers a compelling picture of what repentance looks like.