Let God Burn Your Field!

In the parable of the sower we see that the fields of the heart are affected by many things and even the good field's harvest varies.

Mark 4:8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. KJV

Is it inevitable that a Christian will be a 30, 60, or 100 field or is there a chance to up the harvest or even decrease it. If some were 30 last year can they be a 60 this year? If some were a 100 will they have some bad years and end up as a 30? I believe it can fluctuate throughout the years, but we can have a better crop in the bad years and even better good years if we do some prescribed burning of our field.

Hos 10:12-13

12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men. KJV

Jer 4:3-4

3 For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. KJV

Both prophets call for a breaking up of the fallow ground, which involves pulling weeds and removing stones and debris during plowing. Even though the nation had obviously had a bad crop period and paid the price of eating lies, Hosea calls for a resowing of the field after repentance to gain a better harvest. Jeremiah gives sound advice on where to sow and what condition your heart must be in to know how to plow and sow. Otherwise God was going to set fire to their field and it would be completely burnt.

Why would God burn a field? Is it to totally destroy His people or other nation. Is burning a field the end of harvesting?

Judg 15:4-5

4 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.

5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.

KJV

Samson burned a field to get some attention to his situation and as revenge. Sometimes God will burn our fields to get our attention. Often we are too busy setting torches to other people's field and ignoring the dead grass, weeds and other issues in our own fields. Therefore God may get to the point where He sends the fire to ours to get our attention and maybe even avenge the brothers who fields we burned.

Heb 6:7-8

7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:

8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. KJV

Depending on you theological bent, you may see a person losing his salvation here, but there are far too many Scriptures that teach otherwise so may we need to look at this a different way. I am not a farmer by any means. I have heard over the years about controlled or prescribed burns both in forestry and agriculture, but it is also used in cattle raising.

I found a great article on the whys of burning a field on a blog called The Pioneer Woman by a buckaroo who calls himself Marlboro Man. I will have the link at the end of the message should you want to study up on it.

Here is the synopsis I gleaned from the article. Burning the field releases nutrients into the ground and helps control brush and weeds. It kills ticks and parasitic worms. Burning brings in lush and clean looking grass versus the brown dead grass being mixed in with the new growth. It evens the grass out so that there are no clumps of old thick grass that are not as appetizing because the bunch grass has a hard stem The grass from the burned fields has all fresh nutrients while the dead grass mixed with the green grass is just filler in an unburned field. This lush grass is better for the cattle as they will weigh 50-75 pounds more than those fed on unburned fields. That can bring 60-80 dollars more at auction for a yearling.