July 12, 2010

Today's reading; Jeremiah 4, 5, 6; Psalm 12, 42, 72, 102, 132; Proverbs 2

Jeremiah 4:3, "For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns."

This passage of Scripture has become one of my favorite over the years. Growing up on a farm this is what I call a farming passage. While I was involved in farming I never new there was a government program that pays a farmer not to work a portion of ground. It is called set aside ground. The ground is set aside for a season and not worked. This is what fallow ground is. This ground is plowed in the fall and left the following year and not worked. This gives the ground a season of rest if you will.

God is telling the Israelites that it is now time to "work the ground" if you will. They have had a season of laying dormant and it is now time to wake up and get busy.

It is the same in the lives of you and I. We get to a place where we do not serve God like we used to or we let the fire dim in our lives. Maybe we are like the ones in Psalm 12:1, "Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men." His command to you and I is "Break up your fallow ground".

How do we do this? Look at Jeremiah 6:16, "Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein." We need to get back to the old paths. I do not mean that we must rid our lives of all modern conveniences or go back to a lifestyle of the 1800's.

We need to get back to a Bible Christianity if you will. We need a return to the Scriptures and obedience toward God like we never have before. We need to be sold out to Jesus Christ no matter what.

We need to get back to a thirst for God. Look at Psalm 42:1-2, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?" This is another favorite passage of mine. The deer in this passage has a thirst like a deer that is being pursued by the hunter and he would love to just stop for a moment and take a drink of the cool running brook; but, he must keep running for his life.

We have a choice to make. We can keep running from God or ignoring Him or we can run to Him with a thirst or desire for Him like the driving thirst of a deer that is fleeing the hunter. What I am saying is we have some work to do in our lives. We need to "Break up the fallow ground" and we need to be as the writer in Psalm 42 and live the reality that "so panteth my soul after thee, O God."

So, how are you doing?