March 28th

March 28th

Read: Hosea 10:12; Proverbs 24:30-32; Matthew 13:44

Jesus often used the parables about fields or soil to represent the lives of people. The fields cannot be ‘white unto harvest’ until much work has been done by the farmer. The very first job each spring in any field to be planted is the plowing … The sharp blade cuts through the hard crust of winter’s compaction to aerate and to turn under any left-over vegetation. It renders the soil workable. Sometimes it brings foreign matter or rocks to the surface so that these impediments can be cleared away.

This is the same process which God uses in our lives to soften our hearts, to bring the fresh air of the Holy Spirit into them, to clear away anything which will hinder the growth of new life. We call it pain, sorrow, or tribulation … God calls it preparation for life to come.

THE PLOW
There is a plow that turns the soil,
Though barren it may seem,
Till underneath it finds sweet earth
Where fertile life-cells team.

Though stubborn ground resists the plow
And tenacious roots defy,
The blade persists and moves ahead
Till the field doth furrowed lie.

And when the plowing is complete,
When the trenchant blade has passed,
The ground has yielded and awaits
The sower’s seed at last.

But for that plow which burrows deep
And finds life hidden there,
That field would still a wasteland be
To yield but dust and tare.

So when you feel the pointed blade,
When upheaval comes to pass,
Recall the field and yield up life
For the greening of the grass.

Prayer: Dear God, help me to recognize Your hand upon the plow when difficulties and upheavals enter my life.