Hidden Burrs, Painful Harvest

Hosea 10:12 (AMP)

“Sow with a view to righteousness [that righteousness, like seed, may germinate];
Reap in accordance with mercy and lovingkindness.
Break up your uncultivated ground,
For it is time to seek and search diligently for the Lord [and to long for His blessing]
Until He comes to rain righteousness and His gift of salvation on you.”   

Yesterday, I wrote about planting a huge lawn with Bermuda grass seed that had some grass burr seeds mixed in. When all the fresh plants started to grow, we could not distinguish the grass burrs from the Bermuda grass. It was only when the grass matured that the stickers were easily seen and stepped on. Ouch! I pulled one too many grass burrs from my feet over the years. We never really totally eradicated the stickers; we got to the point of controlling the spread so that the Bermuda grass would take over.

The Lord is telling the Israelites to sow righteousness so it will germinate and grow. That will later turn into mercy, lovingkindness, and a willingness to break up the uncultivated ground, sin, in your life. Paul tells the Colossians in verse 3:2-4 that, “…Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory…”

The Bible says that when we give our lives to Christ, we have been crucified and now live for Christ. As we press on and grow in our walk with the Lord, the righteousness that we are sowing is germinating and growing just like all the grass we planted. And just like we never fully got rid of all those pesky stickers, you have to wake up every day and decide to cultivate the hard ground of sin in your life and overcome it with the power of the Holy Spirit. God told Cain that sin was crouching at the door, and he must learn to master it. The more you say no to those old habits of sin, the stronger your faith grows. Faith without works is dead, so start today and have a faith workout. Sow righteousness.

Prayer: Father, help me to sow righteousness and break up the hard ground in my life. I pray for strength and wisdom in this process. I pray that I would seek you diligently so you will rain righteousness in my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.