Hosea 10:12 (NIV) Sow righteousness for yourselves, 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 his righteousness on you.
What are you waiting for? Is there a prayer or two or three or many that are yet to be answered? Are there problems still in need of solutions? Questions unanswered? Dreams unfilled? Expectations not met? What do you do when the process is not yielding results? Waiting on the Lord today? For what? As I prayed, this verse came to mind. I read it. I read it again. Sow righteousness. God, I think I am pursuing righteousness through Christ. Reap the fruit of unfailing love. I know His Spirit is working on me from the inside out. Lord, my heart is broken into so many pieces – I am amazed that you are able to do anything with it most days. Yet you do, day after day taking each one and fitting into proper placement. It just seems to be taking a really long time. I cannot see the picture on the puzzle box. I do not understand your plan. Am I missing something? I read the verse again. Three words change my perspective completely.
Until He Comes…
Matthew 10:22 (NIV) …But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Would waiting be easier if put into perspective? Impatience is human nature. Our flesh prefers immediate gratification over long-term fulfillment. We do not fight for the Kingdom. We fight our flesh to prefer the Kingdom. What if the problem with the process is not the process at all but finding the patience to stand firm to the end? We try to work for our righteousness. Work to maintain our freedom. Fight for faith. Try to triumph. What if all of that is given? What if all I am required to do is wait? Sometimes doing all the right things does not produce a quick outcome because it is not about doing the right things. It is about knowing, trusting and believing the Right One. Comfort longs to be maintained, convenience cries out for release, and control is based on insecurity and fear. All of these qualities are coveted by our flesh. However, covenant requires a commitment to abandon such things and endure to the end…those who do will be saved.
Psalm 112:6-9 (NIV) Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes. They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honor.
The righteous will never be shaken…
Sow righteousness. Plant it in your heart. The seeds of righteousness come only from the Father through the Son. I do not want to dissuade you from attempting to make better choices or live a holy life. However, the only way to the Father is through His Son. You cannot be right without God except through the bright red Blood of Christ. Abram believed and it was credited to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6) The righteous live by faith in God through the Grace provided by Jesus, His Son. (Romans 1:17) It only comes through Christ. (Romans 3:22) And we all need it. (Romans 3:23) Sowing seeds of righteousness has nothing to do with what we do. It solely based on what we believe. To continually sow God’s Word in our heart until it takes root and grows into total trust, complete confidence, absolute obedience, and a solid relationship with God. This is the kind of believing the Lord is looking for in us. The devil and all of his demons believe in God. They know Jesus. They are subject to His Authority and Power. We must do the same for righteousness and salvation sake.
Their hearts are steadfast, trusting the Lord. Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear.
Reap the fruit of unfailing love. Jesus released His Spirit upon His Death on the Cross. Immediately the curtain was torn from top to bottom giving people access to God again. The Spirit immediately started giving life. He opened graves right then and there. (Matthew 27) The same exact Spirit released then and imparted at Pentecost lives in us. He is the identity of Christ in us and identifies us as Children of God. He produces fruit in us that is representative of our Father. (Galatians 5:22-23) He changes our character into that of Christ so we may become Christ Imitators. Just as righteousness cannot be obtained any other way than the full assumption of God’s Grace, no good thing comes out us that His Spirit is not producing in us.
Break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord.
With all of this in mind, it becomes clear that although we submit to God’s Process by faith that there is very little contribution on our part. We must simply believe. Those who do will reap the benefits. Believing by faith is our righteousness. It makes us, like Abraham, friends of God not estranged family or prodigal children but born again believers become Kingdom Kids. Children of God confident that their Father is good. His love faithful. His Purpose fulfilling enough to seek Him all the days of their life…until He comes.
My heart must be broken before the Lord to receive all that He has promised. My heart is already broken by trials and tragedies of life, but this is a different kind of broken. The kind of broken that gives way to humble submission before the Lord so He can take His Word and plant it in us. The seeds grow into every good and perfect thing that He promised. Faith gives God our heart and mind. It says no matter what I will remain broken before the Lord. We begin a list of things to give Him and as that lists grows day by day so does our dependence upon Him. Faith grows into a righteous oak from even the smallest investment. A tiny seed of trust well-placed in the fertile soil of our heart will yield miraculous and supernatural results… if we wait until He comes. It is time to seek the Lord. He promises that those who seek His Kingdom first AND His Righteousness and all these “things” will be given to you as well. Make the Lord your priority today. You may give up on everything else you try but don’t give up on the process that He has placed you in. Wait until He comes.
Revelation 3:10-11 (NIV) Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
Pure Devotion 