My devotional Bible reading lately has included the book of Hosea, a prophetic book that details the disappointment that God felt toward the disobedience of many Hebrews in the days before Jerusalem’s Old Testament destruction.
In the midst of God’s repeated calls for the people to return to faith rather than reap what they’ve sown, God sent through Hosea the following words that reflect the desire of the Father’s heart:
“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 His righteousness on you.” (Hosea 10:12)
Listen, God is not a wimp who can be ignored without awful consequences coming against us at some point. He is also not an ogre just waiting to zap us once He has enough evidence to justify tossing us into the eternal frying pan.
He is a Father who created us in love and wants to re-create us through a conversion to Christian belief. And after that, He wants to create us anew each day as He forgives our sins and transforms our hearts and minds.
Please, my friend, break up the spiritually unplowed ground in your life, whether it be in how you conduct your job life, your school life, your home life, your computer life or even in your go-to-church-to-check-the-box-just-to-make-my-wife-happy life.
Demonstrate unfailing love toward others — genuine, unselfish love — and you’ll experience more clearly the unfailing love of the Lord as His peace begins to increasingly permeate your soul.
This is SO much better than facing what Old Testament Hebrews experienced because they planted the wrong seeds.
As always, I love you
Martin
