Plowed and Sown

PLOWED & SOWN

The Lord has been showing me some incredible things in the Bible and I just couldn't wait to share them with you! Hopefully this will turn into an every day occurrence because I really just want to speak into the lives of those around me and I want to bring some daily encouragement to you!

Ezekiel 36 says "You will be plowed and sown".

I often miss the complexity of the words "plowed" and "sowed" in the Bible.

As I was reading through Ezekiel 36 this morning, it practically jumped off the page at me. I sat there and really meditated on what it means to be properly plowed and sown spiritually.

I came up with a few steps:

Step 1: Plow

Step 2: Sow

Step 3: Nurture/Feed

If you are plowing, you are turning up, breaking up, or working the soil.

If you are sowing, you are scattering, planting, or spreading the seeds so that the soil can take them in.

If you are being fed, you are being nurtured and that produces strong roots and fruit.

I think that it is safe to say that we can't have one step without the other. It is a linear process.

We look at the first step and want to skip that altogether because it means being uncomfortable, broken, stretched, prepared, and molded. But we can't get to the second step of the process without the first.

We must be prepared before we can be sown and sown before we can bear fruit.

Hosea 10:12 says, "Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you".

Apart from the process, there are 3 main ingredients for a plant to bloom:

-Fertile Soil

-Pure Water

-Sunshine

You can't have one without the other, just like the act of being planted. It is a system of moving parts that all play instrumental roles.

That is why I believe that the flower is a great visualization of our relationship with Christ. It is all about the ingredients and how it is being cultivated.

If we don't have one of the proper ingredients, the whole process is thrown off and a healthy flower won't be formed.

We need:

-Fertile Soil - JESUS

-Pure Water - HOLY SPIRIT

-Sunshine - GOD

We have to nurture the seed that the Lord has placed within each of us.

We often try to substitute our own ingredients or try to skip a step in the process and it just doesn't work like that. We need to go through the process WITH Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and God.

Human formulas:

Jesus + Holy Spirit + Netflix = NO

Social Media + Holy Spirit + God = NO

Jesus + Relationship + God = NO

The only true formula that produces fruit is:

Jesus + Holy Spirit + God = FRUIT

This is a hard lesson that I'm learning. To trust God with the process and the season that He has me in.

He is working and walking with you. He is preparing to harvest good fruit.

That's what He wants from you. To take the gifts that you have been given and to cultivate them so that in JESUS NAME there will be a plentiful harvest.

SO REAL TALK: Will you allow yourself to be molded into the person that God wants you to be? Are you going to trust Him in the process even if it might be painful or uncomfortable? Are you willing to fail and have God pick you up again?

Our goal is eternal and that is what this is all about.

He loves you. He wants you. He cares for you. He just wants us to fix our eyes on Him and trust. He wants us to release all control because only then, can He work in ways that only HE can!

CMON!! THAT IS GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!!

Romans 8:28 says,

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

ya'll are so loved,

connor nicole :)