Chuck Smith emphasizes the urgent need for the nation of Israel to return to God amidst their crisis, highlighting the importance of sowing righteousness in our lives and breaking up the hardened ground of our hearts. He explains that our actions have profound effects on those around us, and encourages individuals to cultivate a mindset filled with God's Word to reap blessings. Smith calls for recognition and repentance to soften our hearts, urging that it is time to seek the Lord continuously, especially in light of the moral decline and challenges facing future generations.

"TIME TO SEEK THE LORD" Intro: The nation of Israel is facing a severe crisis. They have forsaken God. They forgot that it was God who had made them great. God's remedy for the sick nation. I. "SOW TO YOURSELVES IN RIGHTEOUSNESS." A. The actions and deeds of our lives are like seeds scattered abroad. 1. They have a negative or positive effect on those around us. 2. Some plant rotten seed wherever they go. a. Their lives have a polluting influence. b. You feel like you need a bath when they go. c. You wished you could purge your mind from the filth of their conversation. 3. Others who, by their lives, bring blessing wherever they go. a. The sweet influence lingers after they go. b. They leave each place better than they found it. B. Here we are exhorted to sow to ourselves. 1. My life is determined by the type of seed I am sowing into my mind. a. The brain is much like a computer that can only feed out that which is programmed in. b. If I feed my mind on Playboy and X-rated movies, I will reap overpowering sexual urges. c. If I feed on the soaps, I will reap doubts and suspicion about the fidelity of my spouse. d. If I feed on the Word of God, I will reap godliness. 2. "Sow to yourselves in righteousness." a. Sow in the right things and the right things will come out. b. What kind of music do you listen to? c. What kind of material do you read? C. If we sow in righteousness, we will reap in mercy. 1. Rather than being vengeful, critical and harsh, we will be kind and forgiving. 2. Much strife could cease at our doorstep. a. That desire to get even only fans the flame. b. Better to douse it with mercy. II. "BREAK UP THE FALLOW GROUND." A. Ground that has compacted and hardened for lack of use. 1. All it produces is weeds, nettles and thorns. B. Some of your hearts have become hardened to God. 1. His Word has no chance to root. 2. It washes away in the next storm. 3. As a result, you become hardened to others. a. You become blind to the distress signals. b. You become deaf to the cries for help. c. Till one day, you are devastated and shocked when the divorce papers are served, or your child has run away. C. How do you break up the fallow ground? 1. Begins with recognition. 2. Followed by repentance. a. A true desire for change. b. Not just change long enough to get things back together. 3. Start to pay attention to God's Word and obey it, put it into practice. III. "TIME TO SEEK THE LORD." A. For our nation. 1. Horrible moral decline. a. Gone from a permissive attitude to an indulgent attitude. b. When I was a boy, pornography was all under the counter. 2. Economic woes. 3. Crime epidemic. B. For our children and grandchildren. 1. Purpose of government is the preservation of good. a. Laws are seeming to repress the good and liberate the evil. 2. The children growing up today have a much wider exposure to evil. C. How long shall we seek the Lord? "Till He comes."