Set Free, Part 1: Break Up Your Fallow Ground

I just finished preaching a series called “Set Free” in which we identified the issues of our hearts that keep us from walking in the freedom that Jesus purchased for us on the cross. It was a powerful few weeks as the Lord met many, giving them greater measures of freedom. This blog series is inspired by that preaching series. I pray it ministers to you powerfully!

If we are going to walk in freedom, we have to begin with the heart. So often we want freedom from outward struggles, patterns, or circumstances, but the Lord, in His kindness, starts beneath the surface. He comes to ground zero of our hearts and touches the places where wounds have remained, strongholds have formed, and the enemy has gained a foothold.

The heart is the part of us where the Word of God takes root. It is the place where hunger is cultivated, where obedience is formed, and where the Holy Spirit brings transformation. Proverbs tells us to guard our hearts with all diligence because out of the heart flows the issues of life (Prov. 4:23). If the heart is tender, the Word goes deep. If the heart is hard, even the best seed will sit on the surface and never bear fruit.

One of the great truths of the gospel is that Jesus came in the flesh, died in our place, rose from the dead, and poured out His Spirit so that God would not only be with us, but within us. God does not withhold Himself from hungry people. He does not make Himself hard to find. He promised through Isaiah, “I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring” (Isaiah 44:3). This is the heart of the Father. He delights to pour out His Spirit. He delights to meet dry ground with living water.

But there is a difference between dry ground and fallow ground. Dry ground needs water. Fallow ground needs to be broken. Hosea 10:12 says, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.” Fallow ground is ground that has become hardened, uncultivated, and unproductive. You can scatter seed on it, but nothing grows. You can pour water on it, but the water does not penetrate. If it remains unbroken, the rain and the sun can make it harder over time.

That is a sobering picture of the heart. It is possible to hear the Word of God and not be changed by it. It is possible to experience the presence of God and still remain the same weeks later. It is possible to remember seasons of hunger and assume we are still living there, when in reality the ground of our hearts has become hard in certain places. Memory is not the same as present reality. Just because we have been tender before does not mean we are tender now.

This is why the Lord, in His mercy, reveals the condition of our hearts. He is not exposing us to shame us. He is revealing what He intends to heal. He shows us where the ground has become resistant because He wants to make it fruitful again. He puts His finger on the places of numbness, disappointment, offense, compromise, fear, or unbelief, not to condemn us, but to invite us into freedom.

Breaking up fallow ground is not passive. We have our part, and God has His part. We cannot manufacture the rain of the Spirit, but God will not force us to yield. He draws us, convicts us, and speaks to us, but we must respond. We must come honestly before Him and say, “Search me, Lord. Break up what has become hard. Make my heart tender again.”

The first step into freedom is breaking up the fallow ground of our hearts. Often we blame the enemy while the hardness of our own hearts is what keeps us from experiencing the fullness of freedom Jesus desires us to walk in. 

Breaking up our fallow ground may look like repentance. It may look like forgiveness. It may look like returning to prayer. It may look like making room for the Word to go deep again. It may look like admitting that we have been moved in a moment but unchanged in our daily life. The point is not to strive our way into freedom. The point is to cooperate with the grace of God. God is the One who brings the rain, releases mercy, and makes the heart alive, but He invites us to cultivate the ground.

If we want to be set free, we cannot skip the condition of our heart. Freedom is not solely the removal of outward bondage. It is the softening and healing of the inner man before God. A tender heart is where the Word takes root. A tender heart is where mercy is received. A tender heart is where obedience becomes joy. A tender heart is where the Holy Spirit can move without resistance.

So before we ask for more rain, revelation, or deliverance, let us ask for a broken heart. Before we ask for a fresh outpouring, let us ask for a tender heart. And before we move on to anything else, let us come before the Lord and say, “Jesus, I want to be free. Start here. Start in my heart. Help me break up my fallow ground.”