SCRIPTURE: Hosea 6:1-7:10
OBSERVATION:
A call to repent, to turn back to the Lord for mercy, to change their ways – for God will heal and help.
God’s desire to bless and forgive is thwarted by His peoples’ passion for sin (burning like an oven).
God’s people are sinning boldly, suffering terribly, but not getting it, they don’t see the connection between their sin and their misery.
God allows Israel to experience hardship (v.5), but it is discipline, not cruelty.
The passionate plea of a father, ”what can I do with you?” (v.4).
APPLICATION:
God reveals His heart, both its love and its pain, like a parent who agonizes over a rebellious child.
Do I see my sin as having this affect on God, as well as on myself and others (misery)?
Many times my stubborn refusal to repent has kept me from experiencing the father-heart of God.
God wants to help me, but am I willing?
If I refuse to repent, I refuse God’s help, and I put myself in the path of misery.
PRAYER:
Lord, You love me despite my sin. I confess my stubborn refusal to deal with the sinful attitudes and behaviours in my life. Help me not to turn away from Your help and to reject Your love. Help me to see that repentance is the best way to go! Amen.
Israel here is like the prodigal son, living in God’s presence, but not as His children. The question What can I do with you shows that the people have not come to their senses and seen the hand of the Lord in the daily affairs of life. They have been living without their covenant God. As the prodigal son came to his senses and returned to the Father, so too, Israel needs to come home. As children we too need to obey.
I pray that in my daily living, I do not just do the rituals and give the appearance to be living for Jesus, but follow His leading with my whole being. Help me Lord to hear and do Your Word each and every day as an obedient child. Discipline me so that I walk in Your light always, seeing Your presence always. Mold me and enfold me by Your Spirit so I may the ears to hear and the eyes to see You.