“Seek the Lord” (Hos 10:9-15)

“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.” (vs12)

Seek the Lord, and don't be neglectful. If you want mercy, then obey Him.

We seek the Lord by His command, coming in Christ, through Christ, and to Christ for the mercies that He gives. He doesn't say, “Sit on your hands, continue in sin, and mercy is yours”. He says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matt 7:7-8). Do it.

Seek the Lord because of the misery of sin (vs13-15). [We only do God's will from the heart, and the power over sin is obtaining the Lord. We're exhorted, “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind”, so that we only humbly exalt Christ in love, when we've found Christ intimately for our own comfort (Phil 2:1-3). Likewise, your situation also needs relief, and the coming pain of God's hatred in hell cannot be happily endured! Thus, seek peace, joy, and heaven to come; it's worth it!

Seek Him because He's merciful. He says “Reap in mercy”, and He promises to rain “righteousness on you”. He forgives and saves people He would otherwise punish. He tells us to seek, so He can be gracious, for He delights in mercy. Is it not written, “Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy” (Micah 7:18). Seek bread from Him who gives it willingly! You won't be forsaken, and what you seek, which is Him and His goodness', will be found. Isaiah says, “For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, 'Seek Me in vain'; I, the Lord, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right” (Is 45:18-19).

I've seen shame, fear, and grotesqueness in my life, looking up and seeing I'm far from God and hurting for it. Yet, He's been found of me, continues to call, and He continues to prove Himself faithful. Repentance isn't in vain, for Christ promises, “I will give to each one of you according to your works” (Rev 2:23). Yes, much is wrong, but we have a real guarantee of change, grace, and love to experience. Seek Him, and you'll never regret that you did! Proverbs 10:22 says, “The blessing of the Lord makes on rich, and He adds no sorrow with it”.