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May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among the nations.
May the peoples praise you, O God, may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth.
May the peoples praise you, O God, may all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Psalm 67
It’s no secret that we praise God for His ways and everything He is, has done, and will do. In the process of acknowledging and following God in our lives of faith, we hope to receive His great blessings.
But why does this Psalm say that the land yields a harvest and then God gives His blessings? Should I go buy a plot of land and start farming? I hope not–if I can avoid any form of gardening, I will. Then, let’s see according to the Bible what the land or field represents and what the harvest we should be expecting from it is.
What Does a Field Represent in the Bible?
For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
1 Corinthians 3:9
The field or land, at its most fundamental level, is none other than you and me–our hearts (Luke 8:15). This is the place God is working to plow and break up hard soil in order to make good, useful soil. The place where He intends to cultivate our spirits into His image–so that the condition of that field will be good.
When a farmer plants a seed in a field, what is his objective? In time he expects a tree full of good fruit–a plentiful harvest. A good field, rich in nutrients that is managed well will be a joy to the farmer.
But a field that is not well taken care of, a hard field or one full of weeds, rocks, and thorns, will not be able to fulfill the farmer’s objective. The farmer might abandon it if it proves to be a place that cannot produce fruit. God wants the same things from the field of our hearts. However, if we call ourselves believers of God but our hearts towards Him and His Word aren’t really healthy, then what will we have to show God at harvest time?
The Four Fields
In Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8, Jesus describes four different fields and their result. Four different kinds of states our heart can be in and how those states affect how we grow and what kind of fruit (if any) we are able to produce.
Some fields or hearts are hard – they don’t even have space to listen to God’s Word. They’re full with their own thoughts and ways. Likewise, some are filled with rocks, things buried deep within them that will require deep digging and reflection to remove and overcome.
Furthermore, some of our hearts have thorns, things that choke any growth of God’s words. Things like distractions, people, our environment. All of these are things that all of our hearts have within them that can prevent us from growing in God’s word.
The Kind of Field We Want to Have
But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
Luke 8:15
What makes a heart noble and good? It’s about our effort. We all have difficulties in life and it’s not easy to carry out a life of faith, but what separates a bad heart from the good is a sincere effort. These people hear and retain the word of God, likened to the seed (Luke 8:11), in their hearts and use it to persevere through their struggles. Just as a physical field was to withstand harsh weather and still produce a crop, God wishes to see the same in us.
He wishes for everything we say and do to reflect the word that has been given us. These are the fruits that God expects to reap from us. Our words and actions that appear as a result of receiving His seed, the Word.
The Blessed Harvest
So if we become this kind of good field, won’t God’s blessings abound? If God can reap a plentiful harvest from the tree of my field, then wouldn’t He be pleased and bless me? Would God be pleased with and bless a field that produced withering plants with no fruit to show?
Farmers spend time learning about all kinds of soil and seeds to do their job. We also need guidance and tools in order to become a field that yields a great harvest for God. It starts with learning about what we’re working with.
Through the Bible we can get a good look at our field. So, we should see what it lacks, what we need to remove, what hinders our life of faith. Let’s be a field and tree that, with much effort and care, God acknowledges and blesses for its fruit.
Written by Samantha
Read More
How is Your Spirit? Spiritual Plant Care 101
What’s God’s Favorite Crop? How To Be A Wheat-Like Believer
Food We Should Give to Our Enemies – The Proverbs Series
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