It is Time

Reap in mercy…Hosea 10:12

Gardens planted in the Spring are now yielding their fruit. God is using the illustration of gardening to call us to Himself. Sow for yourselves righteousness. Reap in mercy. Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you, Verse 12. Mercy is available now; gather what you need for the day!

Verse 13 reflects their plight. You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, because you trusted in your own way, in the multitude of your mighty men. This was them. It is not you.

Certainly, we are surrounded by prideful men who constantly feed us with their lies. But we do not trust them. Nor have we trusted in our own way. We have sought the Lord. They are reaping what they have sown. And God will not be mocked.

Those of us who have been through this before are aware of what is coming. The young among us have no such experience. We have seen what waywardness can do to body and soul. They are still learning. We know the effects of wasted years. Therefore, we join the Lord in warning our youth.

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. Hosea 11:1. Matthew uses this very verse to refer to the Christ Child, Matthew 2:15. Which means Hosea speaks of a double fulfillment. For the Lord called Israel, the nation, out of Egypt by the prophet Moses, Exodus 4:22: And you shall say to Pharaoh, thus said the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn. And God has called His Only begotten Son out of Egypt after the death of Herod. And now the Lord calls others out of their wilderness to follow Jesus as a newborn child of God. It is time to seek the Lord. It is time to gather His mercy and His grace from His abounding love.