Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that He may come and rain righteousness upon you. Hosea 10:12
“So verse 12a is as positive as it is practical, and 12b is as generous as it is urgent. The expression ‘fallow ground’ was extraordinarily well suited to describe a people doubly impervious to the good seed of God’s Word, both by the tangled growth of worldly notions and preoccupations which had taken hold of them, and by the hard crust beneath it all, of wills and attitudes never broken into penitence.”
Derek Kidner in The Message of Hosea (BST; Downers Grove: IVP, 1981) 98.
The sky was stunning on the morning walk yesterday, pictured above.
Perhaps God has led me to a place of praying for rain in this COVID-19 season because we are all praying for a time of refreshing. We are asking Him to deliver us from challenging times and distracting things. Hosea tells us what to do in the meantime. We must sow righteousness and break up our ‘fallow ground’ by seeking the Lord.
Kidner notes that we can become tangled and preoccupied with worldly notions. What about you?
Hosea teaches us that when we so righteousness that God does two things. Firstly, He will come. That’s a powerful picture. When we seek Him, we experience Him. And, secondly, He will rain righteousness on us. So, wherever you are today, do the faithful activities that God desires and trust Him to come to you and rain righteousness (or that which is good).
As weather forecasts go, there is a 100% chance God will do His part. Will we?
Sow righteousness. Break up your fallow ground. Seek not worldly things, but seek the Lord.