I’m enjoying my annual reading plan, working my way through Isaiah this month, along with finishing Luke, Hebrews, and Proverbs. Isaiah 28 contains a little section I discovered years ago: relational disciple-making according to Isaiah, cleverly disguised as a discourse about farming. Jesus often talked about seed, most notably in the parable of the sower (see Matthew 13.1 – 23).

Let’s see what Isaiah has to say and how it relates to helping someone move from unbelief, to conversion, to maturity. Here’s the beginning:

Give ear, and hear my voice; give attention, and hear my speech. Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? Does he continually open and harrow his ground? (Isaiah 28.23, 24, ESV)

What does plowing do? Plowing prepares the ground to receive seed. In the context of disciple-making, we’re talking about encouraging repentance. Compare Hosea 10.12:

Break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you. (ESV)

And here’s my takeaway from Isaiah’s word: I’ve attended churches where pastors majored on repentance. Every week, week after week, “You sinners need to repent!” Plowing is necessary, repentance is necessary, but neither goes on indefinitely. “Does he continually open and harrow his ground?” It’s a rhetorical question, and the answer is NO.

Individuals can drag out the repentance process, too. They attend those “turn or burn” sermons and somehow feel better about themselves for having been yelled at. But they never actually receive the seed of God’s word into their lives. They’ve done the tearing down but not the building up. We’ll talk about that tomorrow – sowing and receiving the seed.

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. (Hebrews 6.1, ESV)