Time To Seek The Lord

by Pastor Mark
March 21, 2026

Perfecting holiness

The theme for this year’s Family Camp was “Perfecting holiness”. It was an enlightening time as we learnt many deep and wonderful lessons about the Lord as a holy God and how we should live our lives in holiness. One vital lesson is the ministry of reconciliation. “God, who has (also) reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:18). God is the Reconciler. Through the death of the Lord Jesus, God has reconciled all to Himself. Not only that, but God has also entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation.

The reason for the need of reconciliation is because many have broken relationships with God. This was true for Israel as we learnt from the book of Hosea. What are some lessons learnt?

 Understanding the ministry of reconciliation

“Then the Lord said to him: “Call his name Jezreel,”” (Hosea 1:4)

  1. What is the meaning of “Jezreel?” There are two meanings.
  2. The first meaning is “God scatters”…God can scatter His people.
  3. The prophet Hosea had to address the many sins of the leaders and people of Israel.
  4. They had strayed from God and turned to idolatry.
  5. As a result, God scattered them…He declared that they were no longer His people and He would not show His mercy to them.
  6. There was a great chasm between God and His people.

Lack of holiness

  1. The people of Israel did not understand the place of holiness (Hosea 4).
  2. They had no truth, mercy or knowledge.
  3. They did not have a proper understanding of God and how to relate to Him.
  4. They were destroyed for their ignorance and lack of knowledge.
  5. Both the leaders and the people stumbled in their ways.
  6. As they rejected the Lord, He rejected them also.

A time of reconciliation

  1. The second meaning for “Jezreel” is “God sows”…a reference to what God would sow in Israel.
  2. Despite the terrible sins of Israel, God’s desire and plan was to sow His blessings in Israel.
  3. He would gather them together and they would become sons of the living God once again (Hosea 1:10).
  4. It would be called the great day of Jezreel and His blessings on Israel would be manifested.
  5. God would also sow Israel for Himself (Hosea 2:23).
  6. He would show mercy to His people once again.
  7. He would graciously call them His people.
  8. In return, they would call Him their God.
  9. There would be a restoration of Israel’s relationship with God.

A time to seek the Lord

“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.” (Hosea 10:12)

Fallow ground is hard ground that needs to be broken up. Our hearts can be hardened by sin. The challenge is to recognise that it is time to seek the Lord and His holiness. The fallow ground of the heart should be broken and God will bless us. It is the time for reconciliation. Let us be challenged to be reconciled to God and to see our relationship with God restored.

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