So long as there has been man, there has been the hoe. Let me explain.
Ever since The Fall, man has been condemned to toil the soil for sustenance.
1 One could argue that the farmer is the oldest profession in the world - after all, human civilization is built on food. We need it to survive. And of the many farming tools that have been developed over the years, one stands out from the rest for its long-lasted use and simplicity - though perhaps it is this simplicity that gives it its beauty. I am of course talking about the hoe.
The hoe has three primary functions. It is used to till the ground, breaking up the clumps of dirt and compacted soil that prevent crops from otherwise taking root. It is used to weed undesirable vegetation that inhibits the growth of healthy crops. And it is used to furrow the ground, preparing the soil to receive good seed. These steps, tilling, weeding, and furrowing, are crucial for crops to grow healthily - and they can all be achieved using the same elegant tool. Beautiful, isn’t it?
I believe there is a hoe in all of us.
It is an invisible hoe, sometimes acting so quietly you don’t even notice it, sometimes so apparent that you couldn’t ignore it if you wished to. But the hoe is there. It breaks up soil, roots out weeds, and digs deep trenches within us. It is the instrument that prepares our hearts to become a new creation, the tool that allows us to grow and bear fruit. This hoe goes by the name of the Holy Spirit.
In order for seeds to be planted, there must first be suitable soil, which is reached with a process known as
tilling. Tilling loosens the ground by breaking up clumps and sifting packed soil. This allows for air to permeate, letting seeds germinate, and creates access for water to reach the plant roots. Without it, the seeds would suffocate to death. Of course, tilling requires a full upheaval for the soil at hand. Dirt will be overturned, mixed up, broken into bits, so that the end result is unrecognizable from the beginning. Tilling leaves the ground messy and ugly and loose, not neat and tight and compact like it was before. And yet it is in this mess that the seeds are able to thrive.
In the parable of the sower, Jesus compares some who hear the word of the kingdom to seeds that fall on the road or on rocky soil.
2 These seeds are unable to take root or find nutrition, and quickly fall away. They never sprout.
There are a lot of reasons why people can be unreceptive to the good news. It could be personal, situational, or philosophical. But a common thread to many of these is that the gospel simply does not have a place in their life. Perhaps their personal past has led them to believe that life is better - more simple, orderly - without God, without Jesus. Perhaps there is no place for Him in their worldview, in how they understand the universe and its mechanisms. Or perhaps they are so busy that they just don’t have time for Him. Their soil is too orderly, too compact, too stiff, and so they are unable to receive the seed. It must be upturned.
Many times, the tilling process is not a pleasant one. It could be something as minor as a little worry that needles its way into someone’s mind, or something as drastic as a loved one’s death, a major layoff, or a sudden health issue. Mind you, the subject of the tilling may already believe, or have even accepted Christ in their lives. We often take God and leave Him as another carefully curated object in our orderly box of life, not allowing any space for movement or growth. It is then that the Holy Spirit will shake up our box. Because of this upheaval there is now space for God to fill. Through this tilling, there is a chance for him to reveal himself to us, for us to see what it is that we are missing.
And so the hoe tills.
In order for plants to thrive, the soil must also be
weeded. Weeds choke out newborn sprigs, killing young crops that are still trying to grow. They block sunlight from smaller sprouts. They steal nutrients that would otherwise go to healthy plants. Weeds are common plants, finding their way onto every plot of land, and they often look unassuming, or even pretty. Take the dandelion, with its little yellow flowers or cute white puffballs. It may look nice, but dandelions are difficult to uproot and spread everywhere very quickly, making them a nuisance to remove. If the farmer does not weed the planting ground, crops will never get the chance to mature and bear fruit. They will be snuffed out at birth.
The next batch of seeds in the parable of the sower falls on thorns.
3 These sprouts try to grow but are quickly choked out by the weeds, which Jesus explains are the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches.
The world is full of distractions that seek to draw us away from God. These can be material or immaterial, but they are all not of God. They latch on to us, block us from seeing the light of God, divert us from his calling and his voice. They prevent us from becoming His children. Many times we are so busy dealing with weeds, sometimes even appreciating or desiring them, that we are unable to grow in faith.
There are some weeds in our lives that are very obvious. These can be addictions to drugs, alcohol, or pornography, or habitual sins of anger, greed, or lust. While these weeds are easily found and identified, they are much harder to completely root out of our lives. The strongest, most steadfast Christians will spend their entire lives struggling with these sins, even as they continually repent and try to overcome them. Weeding is not a one-time process; it must be done over and over, because weeds are persistent - they come back, they sneak in, they invade.
Some weeds are much harder to spot. On the surface, they might look harmless, unassuming, like a little dandelion flower in the field. But their roots can be wide-spreading, crippling, and even harder to root out. After all, would you think to root out that which you believe to be good? We are called to love our partner - but what if we place them above God? What if we put our friends before Him? What if in our pursuit of a career or a dream, we lose sight of that which is important - if instead of looking to eternity, we look to a temporary respite that we believe will give us happiness or peace? It’s important to recognize the things in our life that get in the way of God, and work to uproot them so that they don’t choke out the constant process of growing in faith.
And so the hoe weeds.
After tilling and weeding, the farmer could just scatter seeds and cultivate the plants wherever they fell in the field. Instead, what now happens is a process called
furrowing: the dirt is molded into long trenches along the plot of land, and the seeds are planted within these channels. Furrowing helps with moisture retention and efficient crop growing, producing larger yields and more sustainable agricultural practices. But beyond that, it prepares the soil to receive seeds. And once it does, and once they grow, there is a new order and neatness in the garden - one flourishing with fruit.
Jesus finishes the parable of the sower with the last batch of seeds. These fall on good soil, producing thirty, sixty, or even a hundred-fold of grain.
4 It is not that the seeds were any different from the rest, for the gospel is the same to all - it is the reception of the seeds that allows them to grow. It is the preparation of the good soil, of our hearts, that allows them to flourish.
In order to develop a relationship with God, our hearts must first be open to accepting Him. However, sin has made us so far removed from God that without divine intervention, there is no way we could ever hope to draw near to him. Thankfully, our God is a God who intervenes. He wants to be reconciled with us, to enter into a covenant relationship with us, so he sends the Holy Spirit to prepare our hearts. It must be shaped so that we are willing and able to accept God into our lives - changed from a heart of stone into a heart of flesh.
5 It must be reformed and made anew.
The Holy Spirit opens us up to become living vessels for God. It creates in us the desire to draw close to him and stirs in us the fires of faith that burn for the King of Kings. We are shaped into the beautiful creation that He intended, and in doing so made capable of so much more for his kingdom. Only when we are molded into his intended works are we able to yield the most fruit.
And so the hoe furrows.
I hope that you will let the Holy Spirit work within you. Perhaps you’ve read this piece and thought to yourself, “I’m already a Christian. The Holy Spirit has already made me into a new creation. I no longer need a hoe.” And part of that is true. You have been justified and made new - once you are a child of God, you need not fear abandonment. But justification and sanctification are two different things. We live an unending journey of sanctification because we fail daily to live the perfect lives expected of us from a perfect God. For the Holy Spirit, the work is ongoing.
Every day is a day of tilling, of rearranging our lives to fit more of God in it, until He is above everything and in everything.
Every day is a day of weeding, of recognizing the things that pull us away from God and stamping them out of our lives. And
every day is a day of furrowing, of shaping us to be more like Christ so that we can grow into the creations we were always meant to be.
