Hosea 10:12 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 righteousness on you.

Many people desire that the Lord pour out revival, or they say they do, but they don’t necessarily act like it. This verse tells us how we should be living if we want revival. What it boils down to is, live with God and His kingdom as first priority, just as Jesus said in Matthew 6:33. The image, though agrarian, is still clear enough even for modern urbanites: plant what you want to come up. However, planting calls for plowing, breaking up the ground to receive the seed. All too often we get in ruts where we don’t think much about what we are doing, and in consequence, areas of our hearts and lives go relatively untouched for months, even years on end. God wants all of us! When rain falls on packed earth, not much soaks in, and so the ground gains little benefit. Conversely, it just gets eroded as the water runs off. If we want God to pour out His righteous Spirit, we need to be ready to let Him soak into us, or the results could be devastating. I have seen times when God clearly was moving, yet some people were just business as usual, essentially unmoved. That’s tragic! This verse is a call not to let that happen. We need to let the Holy Spirit show us in what areas of our lives He is less than welcome, and repent so that He may fill all of us.

This is an excellent reminder for me. Coming on this trip has to this point been a real exercise in “plowing,” because it is so far out of my usual routine. However, I came with that expectation, so it’s not surprising. The challenge now is for me not to miss any of the things God is pouring out, allowing them not only to soak in, but make real changes in how I think and act. I feel that my life has not been bad, but just incomplete. There are areas of prayer, for example, that I’m realizing I have slighted, to my own loss. I have desired to bear abundant fruit, but haven’t spent as much time as I could have cultivating the soil of my own heart. I’m not to focus on helping others grow to the point that I myself fail to grow!

Father, thank You for this reminder. It’s nothing new, yet I have let my heart get a bit dull. Thank You for the interactions that are sharpening me! Help me not try to set Your agenda, but rather be fully yielded and open to allow You to set mine, so that Your will may be done on Your schedule in every way, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!