I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness,
and you will harvest a crop of love.
Plow up the hard ground of your hearts,
for now is the time to seek the Lord,
that he may come
and shower righteousness upon you.’
Hosea 10:12 (NLT)
Can I just put a text on here because I love it? I came across this text this weekend and it spoke to my heart. You know, we spend a lot of time trying to figure things out. There are the little things like trying to figure out what to wear or my least favorite, trying to figure out what to have for dinner that's really fast, healthy and that hopefully I don't have to cook. Sigh.
But then we try to figure out the big stuff too. Should I change jobs? Should we move? What am I supposed to be doing with my life? Which of course leads to "God, what are you doing? What do you want?" At least it leads there for me.
Maybe, just maybe while we are pondering all this stuff there are also things God is telling us to do in the meantime. The Good Lord knows that he's told me to wait (a (did I mention that I don't wait well - probably have). In the Bible sometimes the word wait is translated as 'to keep doing what you were last told to do until you are told something else'. That is not a technically correct definition by the way. So, I spend a lot of time, doing what I was last told to do and waiting.
One of the things God has told us all to do is to look for people that cross our paths that we are supposed to talk to, help and love on and if God says, we can tell them how much Jesus loves them. But only if. That's a whole 'nother post.
Isn't that kind of what this text is saying? We spend a lot of time working, living life and waiting but what are we supposed to be doing in the midst of all that? I think the text says it perfectly.
Plant the good seeds of righteousness (justice, honesty, something morally right).
And you will harvest a crop of love (acts of kindness, favor)
Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, (make it ready so God can expose the deep things)
for now is the time to seek (to earnestly pursue) the Lord,
that he may come and shower righteousness (what is good and just, what ought to be) upon you.’
Basically, while you live life, do good things for others, receive the good gifts intended for you, spend time pursuing God digging up the things that hinder your journey and accept what he showers upon you.
I still don’t like to wait but if I wait like God is telling me to, it’s not like waiting at all. It’s more like taking a journey – I just don’t know the destination. Again, a whole 'nother post.