Digging Deep

The first week of warm, sunny weather in the springtime is always a treat. It makes teachers and students alike want to linger outside during recess, and it is a little sad to have to go back inside again. I tend to feel like the last hour of the day goes by so very slowly, and when I finally get home, I quickly change and gather up a few tools from the shed so I can work on the garden.

My first garden task each year is to turn the soil, breaking up the earth that has settled and packed over the winter, sifting out weeds that have so quickly taken root. Our electric tiller has not ever been effective in getting down deep to break things up, so this year, I went out with my spade fork, determined to give the beds a thorough turning.

But as I went, I noticed that there was a problem. You see, there were some big, deep, woody roots running through the soil that had not been disturbed in many years. As I worked the soil, my spade fork would snag on a root, and I would have to work my way gingerly down to it, dig around it, and try to pull it out.

Each garden bed took an entire afternoon, and I was sore for days afterwards. But as I worked, I was reminded that this is kind of like what God does in my heart: He tills the soil of my heart, showing me where the “spade fork” of His Word catches on a corner of a sinful habit or way of thinking, pushing aside the soil to expose the root, and then doing the painful work of digging it out.

The book of Hosea uses a similar illustration to describe what God wanted to do in the hearts of His people:

“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 upon you.” Hosea 10:12

The “fallow ground” of our hearts needs to be broken up, to be turned and weeded and made ready for the sowing of Christ’s righteousness through the power of His Spirit.

So, dear Reader, what areas in your heart are “fallow, ” hard-packed by long neglect and the storms of life? What root of sin or lie of Satan is hindering your heart from being ready to receive the truths of God’s Word that will bring forth the fruit of righteousness in you?

Let God do His deep work in you. –It may be painful, it may shock and appall you when He reveals just how deep those roots go into the soil of your heart. But the fruit He brings forth in and through you will be worth it!

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night, And he shall be like a tree planted by the revers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Psalm 1:2-3