Seed Time

Hosea 10:12  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.

I don’t know how many of you realize this yet, but this is one jewel of a verse!! I might have jumped the gun a bit on breaking up the fallow ground. I know that I could have done a better job with writing that, but I pray that you got the jest. Whatever, that you might lack, I am sure that Holy Spirit will cover. He is a wonderful teacher, and never misses a beat.

Actually as I sit here writing this post, I am still wondering whether I should blast through this in a setting. I could break it on down, in several different lessons comfortably. I could easily cover, at least four more topics, from this one verse, besides the one that I have already covered. I guess that I should get started, and see what, and where Holy Spirit leads. 

In chapter ten of the book of Hosea it is not looking too good for the children of Israel. They are being raked over the coals for their disobedience again. However, all that changes in the twelfth verse. This verse is a formula to receive mercy. It is a formula to receive forgiveness, and it is an opportunity, to seek the Lord. 

The first part says to sow to yourselves in righteousness.  How could that be, seeing how we have not even plowed the ground, and prepared it for the seed?  Truthfully, I don’t understand exactly, why this verse is written in this way, because common sense overrides this formula. 

Most of us understand the principal of sowing and reaping. We know that we must sow, before we can ever reap a harvest. Before we even cast the first seed, a smart sower will prepare the soil first. That is the reason that we are breaking up our fallow ground first. The great thing is that we don’t have to wait until the entire field of our heart has been plowed, to start sowing the seed that we chose to sow.

We get to choose the seed that we want to sow, and we are the only one that can. That is why it says to, sow to yourselves. What we sow into our heart is as personal as our relationship with Jesus is. What kind of seed we be sowing?    Seeds of righteousness. 

Matthew 7:20  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. This is a statement Jesus made, so we could tell what kind of a person we are, and this is the kinds of seed that we are to plant. If you are confused about what I am talking about when I say planting seeds, I will gladly explain. Do you understand what it is to repent?

When you truly repent you confess a sin, to our Lord Jesus. Then go do a one-eighty, and do that sin no more. What you do when you repent is you start doing something different than the sin. You should be doing something Godly, and God ordained.

Let’s look at the meaning of righteousness according to Webster’s dictionary of 1828.  1. Purity of heart and rectitude of life; conformity of heart and life to the divine law. Righteousness, as used in Scripture and theology, in which it is chiefly used, is nearly equivalent to holiness, comprehending holy principles and affections of heart, and conformity of life to the divine law. It includes all we call justice, honesty and virtue, with holy affections; in short, it is true religion.

That is a steep mountain to climb!!    Do you realize that there are 289 verses, in the Bible about righteousness?    The great thing is that righteousness is not common to the mortal man. It is God driven, and God divine. Doing anything righteously is not in the human nature!!   Actually, it is impossible for a human being to be righteous on our own!! 

However, if you are breaking up the ground, of your heart, and attempting to sow these seeds, then you are aware of all of this. This is an attempt, of the Christian to drawn closer, to the giver of life. 

  James 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Even James said that we needed to purify our hearts. I like what Matthew Henry said, about sowing righteousness.      Sowing righteousness.

Let them “sow to themselves in righteousness”; let them return to the practice of good works, according to the rule of God, which is the rule of righteousness; let them abound in works of piety towards God, and in justice and charity towards one another. Every action is seed sown. Let them sow what they should sow, do what they should do, and they themselves shall have the benefit of it. (Matthew Henry.)

I am convinced this is a formula, which will help those that love the Lord to get closer. I have done this before, and I am currently doing it now. It really should become a lifestyle for the Christian. However, I have failed at incorporating this into my daily life. 

I truly hope that this is changing your life, because I know that it has that kind of power.

Ain’t God good?

       ….Much Love