Thursday 10, September 2026

They used to tell us to ‘break up our folly ground’. It was a warning to get our act together. But we didn’t know it originated in Scripture. Did you? Let’s explore this phrase some more as we consider Today’s Holy Nougat

Mark 4:15 CEB

[15] This is the meaning of the seed that fell on the path: When the word is scattered and people hear it, right away Satan comes and steals the word that was planted in them.

Hosea 10:12 CEB

[12] Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap faithful love; break up your unplanted ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

Breaking Hard Soul Soils

I believe that the King James Version uses ‘fallow’ instead of ‘unplanted’. It would certainly explain the ‘folly ground’ the elders warned us about. Oh yes. It was a warning. And we who heard it knew that failure to comply carried consequences, as is implied in the second part of our Nougat. This is not to suggest that the breaking process was without pain. We were simply being invited to choose which transformation route we preferred.

Self-Check

If told that our souls are like fallow soil, would we take the time to plough it, or do we get sidetracked by offence?

Application

Siblings, I can’t definitively say that Y’shua’s audience were all familiar with Hosea’s prophetic word. But some would have, especially if there were Pharisees and Sadducees in the crowd.

We may recall that the book of Hosea focused on the prophet’s unrequited love toward Gomer, his wife. Could it be, therefore, that the parable’s reference to seed scattered on solid, paved soil was a call to righteous faithfulness? If so, it’s possible that Y’shua spoke of the religious teachers’ reluctance to accept the truth of Y’shua’s divinity. In that case, the parable is most definitely cautionary for us; for we may assume that all is well when in fact our hearts are hardened.

Malice, unforgiveness, and jealousy can harden human hearts and discourage intimacy with Christ. But even more dangerous is inflexible dogma that is counter to the Gospel of Christ. That was the religious leaders’ downfall. They thought their faith made them more righteous than righteousness itself, failing to realise that their righteousness was as filthy rags.

Ploughing our hearts, i.e., breaking up the fallow ground of our souls, demands that we cast down every imagination and vain thing that seeks to rise above the knowledge of Christ (see 2 Corinthians10:5). It’s a call to humility. And humility can be painful. For we are obliged to yield to God those aspects of our lives which made us important in our sight. In such instances, God gets the glory, not us. Then as we submit ourselves to God’s Spirit, our righteousness in Christ will flourish like palm trees, and the soils of our soul will be transformed. May it be so in Christ, amen.

Point to Ponder

Are we guarding our hearts to ensure that our righteousness is of Christ?

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May all we seek be found in Christ