This week we’re headed up to my dad’s cabin in north-central Pennsylvania. Pam and I are taking a few days to unwind after Justin and Maria’s wedding. It’s been a wonderful season of celebration. The wedding was beautiful and our home has been filled wth family, laughter, and memories we’ll cherish for the rest of our lives. But now all the kids have returned home and we’re looking forward to a little peace and quiet.

One of the things I’ll probably do while I’m there is check up on my food plots.

My dad’s cabin sits on about 100 acres of mostly fallow farmland. Over the years I’ve established two small food plots to attract wildlife. One is on ground that had been farmed for generations. The other is on old pasture that, to my knowledge, had never been cultivated.

The difference between the two plots is signficant.

The old farm field tills relatively easily. The tractor pulls the plow through the soil without much complaint. After a few passes with the disk, it’s ready for seed.

The pasture ground is another story.

The first time we put a plow into that field, it felt like the ground was fighting back. The plow clattered and bounced. Rocks the size of dinner plates roiled to the surface. The tractor strained and bucked. What looked like a relatively smooth patch of ground hid layers of buried obstacles just beneath the surface.

I’ve been working that plot for several years now. And every year it gets a little better. Year by year, the crops get better established and the rocks get a bit smaller.

But every year I still find more rocks.

I’ve piled them along the perimeter of the field. There are several piles now, each a few feet high. If I ever need material for a retaining wall or stone foundation, I’ve got plenty to choose from.

As I was thinking about those food plots this week, I found myself reflecting on Romans 12… the chapter we’ve been teaching on, these last few Sundays. Romans 12 reminded us that the Christian life is a journey of transformation. God is conforming us into the image of Christ. Two weeks ago, Pastor John used the illustration of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly—a vivid picture of the kind of change God intends to produce in us.

Then in my personal Bible reading, I came across Jeremiah 4:3:

“This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem: ‘Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.'”

That verse got me thinking about our part in the transformation process.

To be clear, we cannot transform ourselves. Only God can do that. A farmer doesn’t make seed germinate. He can’t manufacture growth or create a harvest.

But he can improve conditions for things to grow: He can prepare the soil- break up hard ground, remove rocks, clear away thorns.

In the same way, while God is the one who transforms us, He calls us to cooperate with His work.

Some areas of our discipleship seem to develop relatively easily. Perhaps we’ve learned to trust God with our finances. Maybe serving others comes naturally. Perhaps we’ve developed a consistent habit of prayer and Bible reading. Those areas are like the old farm field. The ground has been worked before.

But then there are those pasture fields. The stubborn places.

The places where pride has taken root and self-sufficiency reigns. The corner where fear still lingers. The untilled ground where selfishness, bitterness, impatience, or unhealthy habits have become deeply embedded beneath the surface.

Those are the areas where the plow chatters and the tractor strains. And those are the places where rocks keep appearing.

I’m not discouraged that I’m still finding rocks. In fact, I expect to.  And every rock that’s removed increases the productivity of the field. And every pass of the plow reaches a little deeper than it did before.

Perhaps the same is true in our spiritual lives.

Sometimes we become discouraged when an old struggle resurfaces. We wonder why, after years of following Christ, we’re still dealing with impatience, pride, anxiety, or some other persistent weakness.

But maybe the appearance of another rock isn’t evidence that God has stopped working.

Maybe it’s evidence that He hasn’t.

Maybe the Spirit is simply plowing deeper.

Transformation is God’s work.  But our part is to keep saying  ‘yes’ when his Spirit surfaces another rock

Some ground turns easily. Other ground fights back.

The question isn’t whether there are rocks in the field. The question is whether we are willing to keep plowing.

So let me leave you with Jeremiah’s question in a different form:

What unplowed ground is God inviting you to break up today?