Becoming a Farmer

"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."
Hosea 10:12

So often we forget that we have responsibilities in our Christian lives. We have come to depend on grace so heavily that we neglect the mission of moving toward holiness. Paul tells us that we are never to use grace as a license to continue sinning. So then, the call for each of us is to become farmers in our own lives.
    I know that righteousness comes by faith. It's absolutely true that we have right-standing with God when we confess sin (1 John 1:9), but we still have a responsibility to live a holy and godly life. We do this very simply, by doing what farmers do. We sow righteousness, reap unfailing love, and plow the unplowed areas of our lives.
    You see, this is not about trying to work for our salvation. It is really just allowing God to have access to every area of our lives. This is where the unplowed ground is. It is the areas that we have allowed to become hard, weed infested, troublesome places. These areas often become so unkempt that we simply avoid them. But God wants all those areas. He is not satisfied with part of us, he wants all of our lives.
    Becoming a farmer in our own lives is summed up perfectly by the prophet, Hosea: "For it is time to seek the Lord." So make a vow to God, today. " I choose to seek you, I choose to break up the unplowed areas of my life so they can be planted and watered by you. I choose to move toward holiness. If I fail, I will depend on your amazing grace." Do this today, and if you fall short, do it tomorrow...and the next day... and the next day!