A New Year's Resolution

Our church's theme verse for 2012 is found in Hosea 10.12, which says:
"Sow for yourselves righteousness,
reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up the unplowed ground;
for it is time to seek the Lord,
until He comes and showers righteousness on you."

When studying the Bible, context is extremely important. Hosea chapter 10 begins, "Israel was a spreading vine." The word "was" is a very sad word in this context. It implies that they were no longer growing or vibrant. Hosea gives us the reason why: sin. Although they were God's chosen people, they became a self-focused nation. Although they knew the Shema in Deuteronomy 6.4 which states, "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength;" they had become a people with divided attentions and shared loyalties. Jesus put it this way: "no man can serve two masters." That's exactly what Israel had done, and in the process God had allowed the consequences of their sin to come upon them. God's punishment was meant to get their attention and bring about reform.
Though God does punish sin and sin has consequences, God still called out to Israel to repent and change their direction.

This is where our theme verse comes into play. Like a farmer that sows seeds, Israel was to begin sowing seeds of righteousness. Righteousness has the idea of being just or being in the right. It also carries with it the idea of being in right relationship, both with God and people. Sowing seeds of truth and right living that brings glory to God and benefits those who are around us. The result is seen in the fruit we harvest.

In order to plant seeds, the ground must be prepared. In Hosea's day, the farmer used a plow. God says to break up the hardened ground and prepare it for the good seed. A farmer would never throw his seed out on unplowed ground. It needs to be prepared.

When I think of the church in America, we've been plowing the same ground over and over, expecting a great harvest. I sense the Lord saying to us to quit doing church as usual and begin to plow where we have not plowed before. For us in Occidental, there is plenty of soil that has never been put to the plow nor has the seed of God's word been scattered over it. Now plowing is hard work, and so is the scattering of seed. But if we want a full harvest, we must get out of our comfort zones and do this. In a way, I'm plowing new ground and planting seeds because I have taken a part time job as a warehouse helper and fork lift driver. When I work, I bring Jesus with me, not to shine a blinding light in the faces of my co-workers, but to simply be Jesus to them. To serve them, to pray for them, to share the truth of the gospel with them, that they too may some day come to know Jesus. I have a hunch that some of us need to stop plowing the same ground and begin asking the Lord of the harvest where He wants us to plow.

The verse concludes with the admonition, "It is time to seek the Lord until He comes and showers righteousness on you." Let me say this: The time is short. The Lord is near. The Lord is looking to see who is faithful and dependable. Those who have undivided hearts and are willing to do the hard work of planting the seeds of the Word of God among a nation of people who no longer know about the Lord. God is looking to enrich the lives of those who are bearing fruit that lasts.

May this coming year be a year of sowing and reaping, of seeking and enrichment.
Above all, may God be praised.
Blessings,
Pastor Pete