'Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy: break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.' Hosea 10:12
What a verse is that! And indeed, what does it mean?
'There will be no harvest of good if you do not sow good seed. You can reap a harvest of goodness and grace if you sow proper seed. But you cannot sow good seed if the ground is hardened by sin and disobedience, or by carelessness and laziness..
Fallow ground is a field that has not been ploughed or has been neglected for years. Sin hardens the heart, and neglect of God and his ways allows the weeds and thorns of unholiness and corruption to take over. The soil becomes hard and rejects the rain even when it does come. There must be a breaking up of the heart if ever we are to see a harvest of good in our lives.
And now is the time to seek the LORD. We must not put it off, in case we fail to hear God speak again, and find ourselves lost and overtaken with all the passing preoccupations and cares of this life.
And in seeking after God and his righteousness, we must be diligent and determined that we will not be half-hearted in the matter, but will give all of our attention and perseverance to seek for God's mercy and grace until he sends rain from heaven that washes us and cleanses us, and makes us shine for his glory.
For then, and then only, shall we have a true harvest of righteousness, and we shall go into his harvest field and reap in mercy the souls for whom Christ died.
This work is not a matter of a quick prayer in the hope that God will forgive us, but it may be the work of many days (Ezra 10:13); for a dormant field is not ploughed and prepared for the seed without great effort and application.
But if we will take to heart the scriptures that tell us to seek the LORD, to seek his righteousness until we find the promise fulfilled, then he shall come as showers of blessing, and as the former and the latter rain which will quench the thirst of our own souls. Then those who are perishing in the heat of this evil time where the oppression is relentless and the work of evil is as a storm across the world, shall find a sweet refreshing from heaven through those who have received mercy.
'You must seek the LORD while he may be found; you must call upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.' (Isaiah 56:6-7)
JGM 2022
