"Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until He comes and showers righteousness on you" (Hosea 10:12).
All across our area and throughout the northern hemisphere farmers are working the soil and preparing for seed-time. Yesterday my neighbor, Leon, was on a big John Deere tractor preparing his fields for planting. The equipment is sure different than they used in the Bible times or for that matter most of human history. The tools and technology may change but the basic fundamentals of planting remain the same.
The daily verse from Hosea lists three verbs related to crop farming; sowing, reaping and breaking up. It's interesting to me that he doesn't list them in the order we would expect, that is break up, sow and reap. As I considered and studied this passage I believe there is a reason.
"Sow for yourselves righteousness." In this case the interest is in personal or individual sowing which indicates a responsibility God has given to us regarding our own spiritual development and growth. Jesus reinforces this in His Sermon on the Mount when He states: "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). The latter part of our daily reminds us that "it is time to seek the LORD, until He comes and showers righteousness on you." It's always time to seek the Lord for "He rewards those who earnestly seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).
"Reap the fruit of unfailing love." When farmers sow, regardless of how rewarding the sowing may be, they have a purpose and a goal in mind. They want to reap a bountiful harvest! I talked to my farming friend, Ken, this morning. He sowed corn yesterday and expressed that he enjoyed this aspect of planting mostly because, as he was sowing, he did so in confidence that he would reap an abundant harvest in September or October. As a result of sowing righteousness our spiritual harvest will be "the fruit of unfailing love."
"Break up your unplowed ground." Our lives get kind of like hard soil. We need more than surface work; we need the Holy Spirit to do some heavy-duty renewing. Hosea uses the metaphor of "unplowed ground." Farmers know that a well-prepared field is essential to a good crop. Jesus taught in the Parable of the Sower about the seeds that fell on the hardened path. These seeds never had a chance to take root because the birds came and devoured them.
Finally today I want to consider a reason Hosea may have placed these three elements of planting in the order he chose. In a sense we need to work the soil in an ongoing way so that we keep our hearts soft and receptive to God's truth. It's a cycle that continues all through life since there are many ungodly forces at work in the changing seasons of our lives that contribute to spiritual hardness.
Today let’s allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives as we break up our unplowed ground, as we sow seeds of righteousness and as we enjoy the harvest of Your unfailing love!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Lord, I confess to You that my heart can easily become like unplowed ground. Destructive attitudes that I justify rather than repent of remain in my heart and cause me to be hardened toward You and others that I love. I invite the work of Your Holy Spirit to cleanse, renew and refresh me as I yield my heart to the searchlight of Your Word. As I seek You, Lord, You will come and shower Your righteousness and blessing upon my life as the fruit of Your unfailing love flows out to those around me. Amen.
Chaplain Stephen and Brooksyne Weber serve with Transport for Christ. Click here to contact the Webers.
Click here for more daily encouragement. Subscribe to receive this free daily e-mail.
