Hand To The Plow
Posted: April 28th, 2010, 1:33 am
simpletruth #138e Re-Written 28APR10
HOSEA 10:12—Part Five: Hand To The Plow
by rev. dave c
Hosea 10:12, 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 (NKJV).
Part Four of this series defines righteousness as compliance with God’s general and specific will in our relationships with Him and with others. It is also a discussion of our having the choice to either sow righteously to the Spirit, or selfishly to the flesh...and the resultant crop to be harvested. It is to be noted that sowing for yourself righteousness is a command to take action, not just to study or to prepare. While it is good and right and necessary for us to have spiritually intimate time with our Almighty Creator, Faithful Sustainer, and Righteous Lord through praise and prayer, and we need to rationally read and meditate upon the Word of God daily—we are also commanded to be actively involved in the physical world (Jn 17:11-23, “Christ’s High Priestly Prayer,” and Mk 16:15, “The Great Commission”).
Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it (NAS). Genesis 2:15 tells us that you and I must labor not because of Adam and Eve’s fall and the subsequent curse upon humanity as described in Chapter Three of that book, but that from the beginning we were designed and consigned to work. In Genesis 2:19 we learn that Adam was given the task of naming all the animals—a task that we continue to the present under the auspices of Science. God gave to man and woman the directives, "[1] Be fruitful and increase in number; [2] fill the earth and subdue it. [3] Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (Ge 1:28; NIV). Interestingly enough, no matter how stridently an atheistic individual or society denies the existence of the Living Creator God, this three-fold Divine assignment remains ingrained in the very fiber of that individual and society. This is true in spite of increasingly debauched and mind numbing entertainment. This is true in spite of birth control and the murder of the unborn. This is true in spite of the “Greening” of Western Culture. This is true in spite of the extremes of animal rights activists. All of which are the worship of created things being manifested within the religions of Humanism, Paganism, and Satanism.
James is very specific in his admonition for Believers to be righteously productive in the material world as well as in the spiritual: If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (Ja 2:15-18; NAS). Paul, in Ephesians 2: 8-10, makes it clear that although we are not saved by good works, we are saved to do good works, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (NAS).
In Second Peter 1:3-8 we are provided a list of desirable attributes for the believer who is seeking righteousness: His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (NIV). It is significant that the end goal of this “to do” list is love, while love is the first fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22&23. It would seem, perhaps, that as we work to learn to love, the Holy Spirit is able to begin to produce in and through us God’s love...and joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control (NIV).
"No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God" (Lu 9:62; NIV). Throughout the New Testament we are repeatedly admonished to keep going forward in our Christian walk. We must daily ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen our convictions and commitment to grow in the constancy and consistency of our faith. Paul tells us in Philippians 3:12-14, Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (NIV). Finally, in First Peter 2:17, the Fisherman offers us a brief summary of how to live righteously in this world before God and man: Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king (NIV). I ask the Father, in the name of the Son, and through the power of the Holy Spirit that you and I might be granted the strength, the wisdom, and the faithfulness to keep this exhortation upon the surface of our hearts and minds. Amen.
HOSEA 10:12—Part Five: Hand To The Plow
by rev. dave c
Hosea 10:12, 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 (NKJV).
Part Four of this series defines righteousness as compliance with God’s general and specific will in our relationships with Him and with others. It is also a discussion of our having the choice to either sow righteously to the Spirit, or selfishly to the flesh...and the resultant crop to be harvested. It is to be noted that sowing for yourself righteousness is a command to take action, not just to study or to prepare. While it is good and right and necessary for us to have spiritually intimate time with our Almighty Creator, Faithful Sustainer, and Righteous Lord through praise and prayer, and we need to rationally read and meditate upon the Word of God daily—we are also commanded to be actively involved in the physical world (Jn 17:11-23, “Christ’s High Priestly Prayer,” and Mk 16:15, “The Great Commission”).
Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it (NAS). Genesis 2:15 tells us that you and I must labor not because of Adam and Eve’s fall and the subsequent curse upon humanity as described in Chapter Three of that book, but that from the beginning we were designed and consigned to work. In Genesis 2:19 we learn that Adam was given the task of naming all the animals—a task that we continue to the present under the auspices of Science. God gave to man and woman the directives, "[1] Be fruitful and increase in number; [2] fill the earth and subdue it. [3] Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (Ge 1:28; NIV). Interestingly enough, no matter how stridently an atheistic individual or society denies the existence of the Living Creator God, this three-fold Divine assignment remains ingrained in the very fiber of that individual and society. This is true in spite of increasingly debauched and mind numbing entertainment. This is true in spite of birth control and the murder of the unborn. This is true in spite of the “Greening” of Western Culture. This is true in spite of the extremes of animal rights activists. All of which are the worship of created things being manifested within the religions of Humanism, Paganism, and Satanism.
James is very specific in his admonition for Believers to be righteously productive in the material world as well as in the spiritual: If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (Ja 2:15-18; NAS). Paul, in Ephesians 2: 8-10, makes it clear that although we are not saved by good works, we are saved to do good works, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (NAS).
In Second Peter 1:3-8 we are provided a list of desirable attributes for the believer who is seeking righteousness: His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (NIV). It is significant that the end goal of this “to do” list is love, while love is the first fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22&23. It would seem, perhaps, that as we work to learn to love, the Holy Spirit is able to begin to produce in and through us God’s love...and joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control (NIV).
"No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God" (Lu 9:62; NIV). Throughout the New Testament we are repeatedly admonished to keep going forward in our Christian walk. We must daily ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen our convictions and commitment to grow in the constancy and consistency of our faith. Paul tells us in Philippians 3:12-14, Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (NIV). Finally, in First Peter 2:17, the Fisherman offers us a brief summary of how to live righteously in this world before God and man: Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king (NIV). I ask the Father, in the name of the Son, and through the power of the Holy Spirit that you and I might be granted the strength, the wisdom, and the faithfulness to keep this exhortation upon the surface of our hearts and minds. Amen.