Break up your Fallow Ground

Bible Reading: Jeremiah 3:6 – 4:4

Jeremiah was a prophet from the thirteenth year of Josiah, king of Judah (626 BC), until after Jerusalem's fall and destruction of Solomon's Temple in 586 BC.  This period covered the reigns of five kings of Judah: Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah.  God sent Jeremiah with warning messages for Judah.  In Jeremiah 3:6-7 we see God calling Judah more treacherous than Israel because even after seeing the punishment Israel suffered in the hands of the Assyrians for their immorality, idolatry, and disobedience, Judah did not repent and change her ways.  

The good news is, God still asked them to return to Him.   If they had sincerely returned to Him, even after all their disobedience, God promised restoration.   God said, "If you will return, O Israel…  if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, then you shall not be moved" (Jeremiah 4:1).  But Judah did not heed the call of God!  God's advice to Judah was, "Break up your fallow ground and do not sow among thorns.  Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest My fury come forth like fire …" (Jeremiah 4:3-4).  

Fallow ground needs some hard work to break.  It is a soul hardened with sin.  It would be pointless to expect sincere repentance in a heart hardened by sin.  The Psalmist said in Psalm 51:17, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise."  Judah was called to remove the foreskins of their hearts with sincere repentance.  But Judah did not return, and the fury of the Lord gave them over to Babylonians!  

What is the Lord teaching us today?

The Lord is calling us today.  God is merciful and compassionate.  God does not take pleasure in punishing us.  But God wants us to return to Him with sincere repentance.  If we want to enjoy God's blessings, we must break up our hardened hearts and return to Him.   When we return to Him with a contrite spirit, we will enjoy the forgiveness of God and inherit the blessings God has in store for us.  

My friend, if the Holy Spirit is convicting you of some sin today, repent and return to the Lord with a broken heart.   God is giving us one more opportunity today to return to Him.  

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, I come to You with a broken heart.  Forgive me, cleanse me, and make me more like You. Amen.  

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