Photo: Painting of a Tuscan harvest scene by me on our dining area
In 2013 the Lord laid in my heart to paint a harvest scene. I made that painting in 2018 but it was in 2022 that the Lord revealed to me the meaning of this painting. I want to share this with you.
The Parable of the Sower
Look with me to the parable of the Sower.
Matthew 13:3-8:
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
As I meditated on this scripture, I felt the Lord say, the good soil is the condition of the heart. Good soil is fertile soil. The definition of fertile is “soft and crumbly”. In essence God is saying unless the condition of our heart is soft (humble) and crumbly (broken and surrendered) before the Lord, we will not bear much fruit.
Psalm 51: 17 says, “The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.”
God is pleased when we are humble, broken and surrendered before Him.
We cannot produce a harvest (be fruitful) when our heart is hardened by worries, troubles, burdens, cares of the world, by pleasures of the world.
Haughty Eyes and A Proud Heart
Proverbs 21: 4: (NIV) says, “Haughty eyes and a proud heart— the unploughed field of the wicked—produce sin.”
It is interesting that the NIV translation refers to haughty eyes and a proud heart as “unploughed field” of the wicked.
The dictionary definition of haughty is: “having or showing an attitude of superiority and contempt for people or things perceived to be inferior”. In other words a person with haughty eyes is proud and think they are better than others. They are ruled by an attitude of superiority.
Interestingly, the dictionary defines proud as “having or displaying excessive self-esteem”!! Too much of reliance on our own selves and doing things our way leads to pride.
Proverbs 6:16-19 says, “The Lord hates six things;
in fact, seven are detestable to Him:
17 arrogant eyes, a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that plots wicked schemes,
feet eager to run to evil,
19 a lying witness who gives false testimony,
and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.”
God detests haughty/ arrogant eyes. He hates those who behave like they are better than others. God also hates those with a proud heart-a heart that plots wicked schemes.
In other words, when we are inclined to do life our own way, feel excessive self-esteem in the process and leave God out of the equation of our lives, we are in essence living a life that is independent of God and God hates that.
Ploughing: what does it mean?
I got quite curious to understand what God meant by haughty eyes and proud heart leading to an unploughed field, so I looked up what ploughing actually means. Here is what I found in an academic journal article:
“The primary purpose of ploughing is to turn over the upper layer of the soil, bringing fresh nutrients to the surface, while burying weeds and the remains of previous crops and allowing them to break down. As the plough is drawn through the soil it creates long trenches of fertile soil called furrows”
Ploughing literally involves a process of breaking, of bringing in freshness and doing away with weeds (worries of this life and running after the deceitfulness of wealth). It is a humbling process. It is a process of laying down our pride, our desires, our reliance on our selves and our abilities. It is a process of restoration that pleases God. It is a process of saying- have Your way in me, o Lord! You lead, I will follow. It is this process that will yield a fertile heart. A heart that is ploughed, that is soft and crumbly. It is a person with such a heart who is fruitful and yields much fruit.
John 15: 4 (Holman Christian Standard Bible translation) says, “Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.”
God is saying that unless we remain in Him, we will not bear fruit. For when we remain in Him, our hearts are yielded to Him. Our lives are yielded to His leading. Our actions begin to match the condition of our hearts. Our words reflect the reflections of our heart. Our lives undergo an inner “ploughing” as we remain in the Lord and we experience a refreshing moment when we are fully yielded to the leading of the Lord.
I believe God is calling us in this season to return to Him, our first love. To give up our over reliance on the systems of this world, on excessive self-esteem. To allow Him to turn the soil of our hearts, to break away every selfish pride and self-centeredness. To break away from every way of the world-the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. And to say, “Here I am Lord. Take me. As an offering.”
I cannot imagine the height, breadth and length we will each reach in our lives when we allow God to plough our hearts and make it fertile before Him.
Ploughing Happens Before Sowing Seed
Now get this: the field must be ploughed and “prepared” BEFORE the seed is sown!!!
You and I cannot get this order reversed. UNLESS our hearts are prepared, we cannot reap a harvest. We cannot begin using our gifts and talents BEFORE preparing our hearts. If our foundation (of a humble, broken heart before God) is faulty, guess what? We will end up thinking WE DID everything in our own strength. We get proud and arrogant. That is the way of the wicked, according to the Bible. Not the way of believers in Christ.
In The Message translation of Matthew 13:23, we read, “The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.”
God’s definition of success
My friends, the world dictates that we should work hard, chase after “our” dreams, be bold and proud about our achievements. That is the worldly definition of success. God’s definition of success is contrary to that. In God’s kingdom, a believer who is humble and surrendered to the Lord’s will is the one who experiences fruitfulness and success beyond their wildest dreams. Don’t take God out of your equation in life, I beg you. Keep Him central and foundational to all you do.
For then and only then will you experience a harvest beyond your wildest dreams. This is my desire and my heartfelt prayer for you and for me.
Prayer
Lord I am ready, willing and obedient to be everything and all for Your Name sake and for Your Glory. This life of mine I give to You- fully and freely. Break away everything and anything that must be broken. Remove the weeds that stop be from becoming fruitful in my life. Make my heart humble and broken before You, my Father. I joyfully surrender myself in this season of pruning. I raise my hands in surrender to You-the Only One I want to live for the rest of my life. I fall into Your all knowing, loving Hands and I am at rest. At peace. Once and for all. In Jesus’ matchless and powerful name, I ask, amen.
Here is a song I absolutely love called Alabaster Jar. May it bless you this day, dear sister/ brother in Christ: