Break Up Your Fallow Ground

Hosea 10:12

“Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness on you.”

Fallow means a field plowed and left for seeding; broken up ground, tillage; ground left uncultivated or unplanted; untrained; inactive; unused for a time.

The Lord spoke to my heart about the word fallow.  He said that there are a lot of Christians who have allowed their hearts to become like fallow ground having  thorns, rocks, clods and thistles in them.  They were no longer fertile soil ready to receive the seed of the Word of God.   I saw in my spirit that the soil was hard, crusted, cracked and lifeless.  Speaking through Hosea, the Lord is telling us to break up our fallow ground by seeking the Lord.   The reason the ground is broken up and cleared of debris is so that it can receive the seed and rain and bring forth much fruit.

Isaiah 12: 2-3

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord JEHOVAH (Righteousness, Holiness, Love, Havah in Hebrew meaning Giver of Life) is my strength and my song; He also has become my Salvation (soundness, wholeness) Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

We are to continually draw strength and sustenance from the Giver of Life.  If we fail to do so, the result is dry, parched, fallow ground. Ground that can not be used.  What are some of the clods and thistles that spring up in the soil of our heart?  They may be apathy, confusion, doubt, impatience, fear, rebellion, failing to forgive, anger or gossip just to name a few.  If  they are entertained and allowed to remain, they will cause us to become like dry, parched ground and a moment will come when those who have these things will lose their reverence of God.

Billy Graham once said ” salvation is a free gift but discipleship will cost you everything”.

Genesis 32:22-24

“And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two women servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford, Jabbok,

And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had.

And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.”

In verse 22 we see a reference to Jabbok, a tributary of the Jordan River. Jabbok means:

1.     A place of passing over
2.     Struggle
3.      To empty and pour out
4.      A pouring forth

Here Jacob’s name was changed from Jacob (the Grabber) to Israel (a Prince with God)

There are three crossings in our Christian walk:

1.      The Red Sea speaks of our salvation experience:

We come out of the world into the Kingdom of God

2.       The Jordan River speaks of our water baptism:

We begin to witness and identify with Christ

3.      Jabbok speaks to our surrender:

We cross alone

God deals with our CHARACTER at Jabbok

It is a place of total and complete surrender of ourselves to the will of God

We die to self

Rebellion is purged from us

A place of finally being desperate with God and allowing Him to have His way

Jacob had a change in body and soul at Jabbok.  His thigh was put out of joint and it caused him to rely entirely on God and caused him to walk differently from that point on.  His thigh represented his ability to run from God and  strength in the flesh.  His name was changed to Israel “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a Prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.”

In Psalms 22:14-15 the Word speaks of Jesus as it says: “I am poured out like water….my

strength is dried up like potsherd (which means a place of Brokenness.)

Each of us need to come to our own personal Jabbok, a place of brokenness with God , where we are ready to surrender everything to Him, holding nothing back.  Our strength, our personality, our resourcefulness are all to be counted for naught as we rely on Him.  From this place, and this place alone, can we truly say we are crucified with Christ.  He will then be able to use the talents and gifts He has given us because He will know they have been purged in the refiners fire and we no longer depend on ourselves.

In I Kings the eighteenth chapter, Elijah confronts the prophets of Baal.  He asks the people of Israel “How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”   That clarion cry is still ringing out across the earth today.  Elijah called on the One True God and He showed up and consumed the sacrifice.  A few verses later the Word says  “And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.”  There had been a long drought but God was about to bring rain on the earth again.  Rain is a type of the Holy Spirit.  Our text says we are to ” break up our fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness on you.”  Have we been honest with ourselves about the condition of the soil of our heart?  Have we allowed it to become overrun with rocks,  weeds and clods and thistles? Are we producing the fruit of the Spirit?

God is one final time about to bring revival to the earth.  A time of great awakening, conviction, refreshing, and harvest.  We need to take inventory and make certain that the soil of our heart is broken up and fertile, ready to receive the rain from heaven.   We have been given instructions through the Word to break up our fallow ground and we do this by seeking the Face of God, in true repentance and humility.  Jabbok is a place of brokenness.  A place where we are alone with the Lord.  Just the two of us. No barriers and no defenses.  As we are broken before the Lord, He will create something of great value; something He can use for His glory and purpose.  Come Holy Spirit I need You, Come Holy Spirit I pray. Come in your strength and your power, Come in your own gentle way. Purge me, cleanse me, break me, and make me your own.