I have been making my way through the books of the Prophets these past few days in my cover to cover Bible reading. Ezekiel was powerful. Hosea was intense. Joel was direct and to the point. But all of them underscored the same truth: while nothing escapes God, and He desires us to be righteous, His greatest desire is for us to come back to Him and be restored.
‘“Now, therefore,” says the Lord,
-Joel 2:12-13
“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
So rend your heart, and not your garments;
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.‘
The description of the awful things Israel was doing at that time, and how heartbroken God was over it, is apparent throughout the text. In Hosea, God says that His heart “churns within” Him. On a much softer scale, as parents, we experience something similar when we have to discipline our own children.
My husband has unconventional, military style ways of dealing with our kids and teaching them to become men. Once, when our oldest got into serious trouble, he was made to dig up the backyard and move dirt. That season, our son went through a rebellious phase, so he ended up moving a great deal of dirt in the backyard. It eventually became a vegetable garden for me. But I remember watching him through the bedroom window, digging away at the dirt and sweating it out. My husband and I would take turns bringing him water and snacks. The process seemed to work. He turned out to be a fine young man, thanks in part to my husband’s tough love, the kind that churned his heart and helped him straighten up anyway.
In Hosea, God uses an image I cannot help but connect to my own backyard: break up your fallow ground.
“Sow for yourselves righteousness;
-Hosea 10:12
Reap in mercy;
Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord,
Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.”
We can grow a beautiful vegetable garden in our own lives, too, if we are willing to break up our fallow ground. Turn to Him. Seek His help, perhaps, in doing the breaking. As I have said many times, I am no theologian, but this pattern of disobedience, turning away from God’s goodness, worshipping anything but the One who gave us everything, is still a natural, flesh driven tendency in all of us. His call to repentance is clear, and our need to act on it is immediate.
Like most days, I feel like turning over a new leaf right now and stopping my rebellious ways immediately, lest I end up digging piles of dirt myself. But I know it is a process, and our Savior will walk me through it and out of my rebellion. If we are on this journey of rebellion together, I pray that we see each other on the other side, in the beautiful garden. God bless you.
Dear God,
I am sorry for all the times I have hurt You, You who have done everything for me, from giving me breath in my lungs to a life of joy through Your precious blood. Help me keep an open mind and learn. Help me be watchful of what You teach, and humble enough to put it into practice. I pray in Your precious name, Jesus. Amen.