A Time Of Refreshing

Hosea 10:12; Acts 3:19

As I was sitting on the porch doing my morning devotions, it started raining and it was a nice steady rain falling. It was refreshing to not only have the rain, but also to hear it and to feel the cool breeze coming from it. Rain has been something of a rarity here lately, so it seemed at this moment that it was the most precious thing in the world.

As the rain was falling, I was thanking God for it and reflecting upon it, when the Holy Spirit brought a verse to my remembrance. The verse was out of Hosea which he wrote “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” (Hosea 10:12) As my thoughts moved from the rain to the scripture, I began to make the application that I believe Hosea was making to Israel. They were in a drought. But the drought they were experiencing in the natural was a result of the spiritual drought they were going through after being blessed by God for many years. They had turned away from God. We too today are trending toward a spiritual drought after many years of the evangelical movement in America. Church attendance and the desire for Biblical values is in decline right now. We too are turning away from God! In this scripture we see that God through the prophet told his people to do three things. If these three things were done, then God would open the heavens “rain righteousness upon them.” These things still apply to us today.

The first is to sow to yourselves in righteousness. Just before a farmer sows his seed, he makes sure that he has the finest seed he can get to bring forth the best crop. Spiritually this means we need to sow the seeds of God’s word into our lives by practicing what he has taught us. Jesus said, “The words that I speak to you, they are spirit, they are life.” (John 6:63) His life-giving words are what brings forth fruit in the lives of his people.

Second, the prophet said that they were to reap in mercy. God’s word is true. We as fallen men sometimes don’t like the truth. Our fallen nature is contrary to God and his word and even on our best days we find ourselves not quite keeping it as we should. But we if we truly strive to obey God and have a sincere love for him, even when we fall short in our best efforts, we will reap in mercy. The same word that calls for us to live Gods way, is the same word that calls us to repent when we fail to live up to it standards. Repentance is a positive act when it is done in the spirit of which God has given it to us. Hosea gives us a beautiful illustration of what true repentance is in his next plea.

Thirdly, the Prophet pleads break up your fallow ground. Webster in his 1828 dictionary says This word may be from the root of fail, fallo; from the fading color of autumnal leaves, or from failure, withering. Hence also the sense of unoccupied, applied to land. Hosea is illustrating to Israel of their failure to honor and worship God as the only God. That sin in itself leads to many other sins and when sin becomes a longstanding habit it causes the heart to grow hard toward God and his righteousness. The breaking up of fallow ground is done by the implement of repentance.

Once these three things are done, sowing in righteousness, reaping in mercy, and the breaking up of fallow ground, then the heart is made fertile to receive the opening of the heavens and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. What follows after that is fruit! How long has it been since you have experienced the fullness of the Holy Spirit in your life. How fruitful are you in good works?  Do you feel dry and withered up? Are you in a spiritual drought? Are you thirsty? Bow your head before the Lord and pray this passage of scripture from a true and repentant heart and see if you don’t experience the refreshing that comes from the outpouring of God’s Spirit in your life. (Acts 3:19)

Pastor Robby