Fallow Ground

Coming from a big farming region in the Midwest, I am familiar with the concept of fallow ground. It’s when farmers don’t plant a crop on a section of their land for a season. They let it rest. During that season of rest, the ground replenishes its nutrients so that when the time comes for planting again, the harvest will be even greater. It is possible to overuse the land, rob it of its vitality and reduce future harvests.

I look at summer at the church as that fallow ground. Sometimes people ask, “Why don’t we have Sunday School, Wednesdays Together, Youth Programming, JOY Fellowship, etc. throughout the summer months?” Part of it is due to members’ and leaders’ erratic summer schedules, but a greater part is the necessity of letting the programs go fallow for a season. If we were to push all our programming year round it would be like that overused land. Our ministry would eventually lose its vitality and the harvest would decrease.

As it is, we now enjoy this Sabbath rest of letting the programs go fallow for a season. But when the planting of the falls season begins, you can expect an abundance that comes from a renewed sense of commitment and passion.

Enjoy this fallow time,  Pastor Scott