A disciple is a fellow-worker with Christ; he is a significant part of the work of God.
The imagery of plowing in Matthew 11 ties in with the parables of Matthew 13; the seed that fell on good soil fell on plowed ground. The field is the heart of man; the heart of man needs to be cultivated.
The cycle of harvest is rain, plowing, sowing, growth, and harvest. The ground cannot be plowed where the rain has not fallen. Christ will only be plowing where the rain has fallen on the ground. We cannot break up what is dry.
But where the rain has fallen, the heart can be cultivated. This is the work that we share with Jesus Christ; He wants to sow the gospel in their hearts, but the heart must be broken up by the plow first.
The good works that come from Jesus working in us are the tools that Jesus uses to turn over the hearts of men. We are the light of the world. But the world that does not believe in Christ is convinced that we are deceived; it is convinced that we have nothing but an empty faith. Their heart has become hard; the gospel will not be able even to begin to grow in it.
These hardened hearts need what will turn their thoughts over; their assumptions need to be broken up by what they see. What we do as we are yoked with Jesus will break up the fallow ground of their hearts.
But what is important is the way in which the light shines; we are to let it shine in such a way that men give glory to the Father. They need to see the good works as the work of sons, not members of an organization. What an organization does, no matter how good it is, is not seen as personal. But what a person does from the heart is personal. Good works are meant to break up hard hearts; good works need to seen as coming from love. Those we help need to see that we value them.
If good works are to prepare a heart for the gospel, they must do more than scratch the surface. The work must dig down into the heart; good works must be significant. What is superficial is of little use, even if many are touched by it. What we do must have a profound effect; even if only one person is touched by it. If we have done significant good for one, we have entered into the work of Jesus.
“Break up your fallow ground,
And do not sow among thorns.” Jeremiah 4:3
-Greg Whitten
