Hosea
*Warning, below is a long post but I hope worthy reading.*
During my quiet time today, I read Hosea chapters 4-6. Chapter 6:1-3, 6 struck me. I don't really know why but they did.
Let me type them for you: "1 Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. 2 He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the thrid day, That we may live before Him. 3 So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth." (God speaking through Hosea): "6 For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings."
I had to ask myself: how often do I think "well I'm a missionary, I don't need to work on my relationship with God after all I'm living in a foreign country all for His name"? Are these thoughts burnt offerings? But that attitude can't be good enough. I want to be a better Christian when I return to the States; I want to be a better Christian each day that I'm in Nigeria, to be better in this learning process. At times of God convicting us, it seems that He is ripping us apart and being convicted hurts, because it means we must change. He's changing us to be better, to be better for Him.
A reference to Hosea 6:6 was Isaiah 1:11 which talks about the many sacrifices of the Israelites and how God takes no pleasure in them. Then Isaiah 1:16-17 states, " ' Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Reprove the ruthless,
Defend the orphan,
Plead for the widow.' "
I asked God to help me live out and learn Isaiah 11:17. I also realized I had no idea what "reprove" means! [www.dictionary.com says reprove: to voice or convey disapproval of; rebuke.] Okay, I feel educated now.
So that's it. Leave your comments. I'm interested to see what you think of the verses.
*Go back to what you were doing.*
posted by Sara @ 8:58 AM
2 Comments:
Good post! So many times when we are in the tearing process we dont realize it is from God and it hurts and we dont like it... but then, when He heals us, when He brings the bandaids, it is such a blessing to see what He has brought us through and to see how much He loves us. Guess we need to remember those times when we are being torn, so that we can see what God is doing.
Thanks for the post!! Emily
I absolutely love the Book of Hosea. Shane and Shane have a song based on it. I will make sure that you get it some time soon. It looks like OU is not going to beet Texas. This really makes me mad. Pray for me. I feel at odds with the Father right now and I do not know what to do about it. I really hate it cause I feel like we have been really close lately.
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