It Is Time

SEPTEMBER 10, 2024

 “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)

What would you think of a farmer who allowed his finest fields to lie fallow year after year? Yet men neglect their souls; and besides being unprofitable, these inward fields become grown over with weeds and full of thorns and thistles. Men and women see to everything else about their life – all of the temporal parts of their being, and yet the eternal, never-dying soul goes unattended. It is treated as if it is of little worth, while in truth, it is greater in value than the entire world. (Mark 8:36)

It is the Lord who calls you to stop neglecting this field, which is the very essence of your being. God set man apart from all other creatures, by breathing His life into his nostrils, making man a living soul. He made man a self-conscious, thinking being, which shall never cease to be. Someone quipped, “I’ve gotten myself into life, and I cannot get out of it.” That quote expresses a vital fact: the soul of man shall never die. Surely the soul should be our first priority. Yet men seem to invariably put the soul last. It is God Himself Who must call out the horrible slight.

While Christ calls, it is not too late to repent and correct the potentially deadly neglect. But, someone may say, “Is there not a day in which the door of grace may be shut?” Though that may be true, there is not a day in which a sinner ought not to come. Rather than wondering if the day of acceptance might be over, better to say, “The day of my submission is not over, so Lord, I come.”

Turning to the text, let us regard attentively the argument that the Lord Himself uses: “For it is time to seek the LORD.” This is the way that God reasons with those who neglect their soul’s salvation.

When is it time to seek the Lord? “It is time.” In the very first hour of responsibility, it is none too soon. At the present, it is late but not too late. “It is time.” When once the conscience is awakened, by whatever means of providence, in that instant “it is time.” When God’s Spirit is especially at work, then know that this is the day, “it is time.” “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19)

What is the peculiar duty that it is time to perform? “It is time to seek the Lord.” You are to draw nigh unto God; seeking Him in worship and prayer. “Seek the Lord and His strength; seek his face evermore.” (Ps. 105:4) To seek Him is to ask pardon from Him for your sins through the atonement of Jesus Christ. “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon him while he is near.” (Isa. 55:6) It is to obtain the blessing connected with the new birth. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” (John 1:12) It is to seek His Kingdom and the God-honoring life that it entails. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” (Matt. 6:33)

How long is this seeking of the Lord to be done? You must keep seeking, “Until he come and rain righteousness upon you.” The seeking must continue until the blessing of righteousness is obtained: “till he come.” Seek the Lord until the blessing is plenteously received: “Until he come and rain righteousness;” until the soul is saturated.

Suppose there is a pause between your seeking and the blessing coming: what then? Keep on seeking. Do not look elsewhere for your soul’s need. Remember Peter’s words: “To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68) Notice, the text says “Until he come;” not “perhaps He will come.” If you seek Him sincerely, He will come. “He that shall come will come.” (Heb. 10:37)