My Theme Verse for Lent

We are in the season of Lent: a time of preparation to meet the Risen Christ! My theme verse for these forty days is Hosea 10: 12, “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.” In this one verse, the prophet describes the three ways I can change everything that needs to change in my life.

First I sow to righteousness. I think long term. Will what I presently do yield a productive and pleasing life to God? Brendon Burchard, author of Life’s Golden Ticket, reminds us: “At the end of our lives, we all ask, ‘Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter?’” Lent is the perfect time to ask those questions now. Hosea 10: 13 says we have all fed on lies. Sowing to righteousness means giving God the opportunity to break the power and influence of every lie and replace it with truth. Develop a habit in these forty days of feeding on God’s word.

The second thing we do is set short term goals for this Lenten season. Hosea 10: 12 says “reap the fruit of unfailing love”. The King Kames Version says, “Reap in mercy.” Take advantage of God’s grace to make a difference in your life and the life of others. When you reap you don’t try to carry away the whole stalk. You cut the heads off the grain. You grasp what you want. Do you have long term goals? Do you have big dreams? Run after them. Accomplish as much as you can. Our commitment is to be closer to our goal at the end of Lent than at its beginning. Heed the warning of Hosea 10: 13. We have already reaped more than enough, the results of short cuts, unhealthy choices and bad habits. Enough of that! We are now taking full advantage of God’s grace.

The final thing we do is “break up your unplowed ground”. We plow into our soul. We break in before the moisture of God’s leading evaporates. We do not wait until tomorrow to be serious about our Lenten preparation. We do not wait until the next distraction keeps us from obeying God in this moment. We act and act now. We turn over every tillable part of our heart.

“It is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.” It is time to act until the fruit of our reaping and the results of our sowing are plain. Yoke up with Jesus today. Give, pray, and fast until your breakthrough comes.