The Fallow Heart

Proverbs 21:4 (KJV) An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.

As I read this in the KJV, I wondered what it meant when it said the plowing of the wicked.  I couldn’t get anywhere with that.  When I looked at the Hebrew word, the basic idea is fallow ground.  It’s used just a few times in scripture and usually refers to the field that has not been plowed.  The idea is it has a hard crust and it is impossible for crops to be planted or to grow.

So the picture is that the heart of the wicked is rigid and inflexible and he’s not allowed God and his Holy Spirit to make any progress in breaking it down into the heart of flesh.

I wonder how often we either fall into that trap or start moving towards it by refusing to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.  We get into routines.  We have a structured life that gives us no flexibility.  God wants us to do something new, or wants to do a new thing in us, and all we can do is say, “I shall not be moved”.

So?  Don’t be one of those that are condemned for being so open to change that you have no discernment, but at the same time as you read the Bible, as you listen to sermons, as you read other books, listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit.  Take what you hear and compare it with the written word, and see if there’s a new plowing, a new breaking up of clods that needs to happen in your heart and mind.