Sow for yourselves righteousness;
Reap in mercy;
Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord,
Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.
You have plowed wickedness;
You have reaped iniquity.
You have eaten the fruit of lies,
Because you trusted in your own way,
In the multitude of your mighty men.
Therefore tumult shall arise among your people,
And all your fortresses shall be plundered
As Shalman plundered Beth Arbel in the day of battle—
A mother dashed in pieces upon her children.
Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,
Because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel
Shall be cut off utterly. (Hosea 10:12-15)
The above verses describe a contrast between two types of farmers in life. One sowed seeds in God’s kingdom and the other sowed seeds in satan’s kingdom.
The people of Israel then were sowing seeds of wickedness, and we can plainly see the consequences of their rebellion towards God - destruction and devastation. The enemy specializes in enticing people to leave God’s paths and thereby destroying them. Once we have strayed from God’s ways, we are sitting ducks for the enemy to attack.
Sowing seeds of righteousness in our lives will bring healing from the destruction and devastation of the past. No matter how far we have strayed into the camp of the enemy, there is hope for us - we can always turn back to God.
Like the prodigal son’s father, Luke 15:11-32, the Lord is always waiting to welcome us back with open arms. There may be consequences of our sin that may not be removed, but God will surely help us move into His plans for our lives. (Jeremiah 29:11)
How do we sow seeds of righteousness?
There are many ways to sow righteousness.
Example: Prayer and fasting, giving to the Lord’s work, sharing with others, doing good works, treating our enemies with love, using our words to build others up, abiding by the laws of our country, using our spiritual gifts to bless the body of Christ, etc..
God commands us to “break up the fallow ground” in our lives. Fallow ground is unploughed ground and this is symbolic of habitual sin or weakness that we repeatedly give in to.
If we don’t deal break up the fallow ground we are danger of becoming hardened against God, being blinded by the glamor of sin. (Hebrews 3:13 TLB)
How do we break the fallow ground?
We do that by repenting (turning away) from our sin and seeking the Lord. (v.12)
As continue to walk with the Lord and sow seeds of righteousness, the Lord’s blessings come like rain and we will reap the abundant harvest of righteousness.
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