Sow in Righteousness

I love this invitation from Hosea: “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.” Israel and Judah had instead “plowed wickedness” and “reaped iniquity” and were about to suffer severely because of it (Hosea 10:12-13). I like this image because when we strive to live righteously we are usually sowing for the future. It is not always apparent that keeping the commandments of the Lord will reap the reward that we are seeking—if we are too myopic we might be tempted to say with those of whom Malachi wrote: “We call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.” But if we “plow in hope”—as Paul put it—we will in the end reap mercy and blessings from the Lord and we will easily “discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not” (1 Corinthians 9:10; Malachi 3:15,18). The world would teach us that we must seek only that which will bring instant gratification, but in the Lord’s way we wait patiently for a far more lasting reward. This is how Alma put it: “But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life. And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst” (Alma 32:41-42). The Lord’s promise to His people who sow righteousness is that we will be filled through Him and never hunger or thirst, but those who choose a path of wickedness will in the end find that they are “even as unto a hungry man which dreameth, and behold he eateth but he awaketh and his soul is empty,” but (2 Nephi 27:3).  

And so we must plant in patience, sow with faith by committing to a life of seeking the Lord, and trust that in the end the blessings of keeping His commandments will far outweigh any temporary pleasure the world offers us with its wickedness. As we sow a life of righteousness, the Lord promises, “I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God” (Hosea 2:23). Paul summarized this idea in these words: “For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:7-8). It is the simple law of the harvest that we will ultimately reap what we sow. But it takes time and dedication to reap after we sow—it does not happen in an instant. And so we must not “be weary in well doing” as we strive to keep the commandments of the Lord but patiently wait for His blessings to come upon us. The Savior used this same language when he said in modern revelation: “Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days” (Doctrine and Covenants 64:33-34). We must not weary of doing that which the Lord requireth, and then we will ultimately reap to “eat the good of the land” as the Lord has promised. Nothing in life that is of value comes easily; as we give our hearts and willing minds to the Lord and keeping His commandments, we will receive the great blessings that He has in store for the faithful. Isaiah put it this way: “Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.” The for wicked, on the other hand, “it shall be ill with him” (Isaiah 3:10-11). And so, to follow the invitation of Hosea, we must “break up [our] fallow ground” where we have not sown the kind of actions the Lord expects of us and start planting righteous choices for the future. And then, as Alma promised, “Ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you” (Alma 32:43).