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And it will be, like people, like priest. Hosea 4:9 

We often expect pastors and people in ministry to be more holy than we are, even to be holy in place of us. But since our religious leaders arise from among us, if we are lukewarm then it stands to reason that many spiritually compromised people will seek to become religious leaders.  A godless culture pollutes the purity of the church and a lukewarm church is unaware that there is even anything wrong. 

But once in a while there are exceptions. A Christian leader can arise out of obscurity, untainted by the world. Though he was raised in our times, God cupped His hands around his spirit and preserved his conscience. He may have tasted of this world, even sinned in a big way, but once he met Jesus, he only had eyes for the Savior. He immediately saw the disparity between this world and the kingdom where Jesus reigns. There was no turning back. Once he heard the compelling voice of Jesus say, “Come, follow me,” everything else paled in significance. 

This kind of man or woman is heaven’s magnet, attracting those who look for God and repelling those who hate Him. Their brilliant witness resembles that of Jesus. His words did one of two things; they entered the heart of the listener and transformed him, or it penetrated the environment, bringing a sword instead of peace. Because the road to ultimate destruction is wide, most rejected Him. 

We often believe that a pastor or Christian leader will be nice, well respected in town, and well-liked by most everyone. But actually, especially in today’s culture, that may be a warning sign. Jesus did not blend in with His contemporaries. He was distinctive. He loved well but He was also confrontational.  He was willing to be despised by those who fell under the conviction of His words. May we pray for our priests, our spiritual leaders, that in our post-Christian era, they will be the way Jesus described John the Baptist. “John was like a lamp, burning and shining.” John 5:35

Forgive me for all the times I failed to rock the boat.  Amen 

Since Israel is stubborn like a stubborn heifer, can the Lord now pasture them like lamb in a large field? Hosea 4:16 

A stubborn heifer will not be penned in without a fight.  He will break through fences to be free.  God said that Israel is like that; obstinate, rebellious, and unwilling to be tamed.   Submission is far from their intent.

Christ died for lost sheep and promises to shepherd us in His fold. When someone nearby begins to stray, we should call out, “Where are you going? Jesus is going this way!” Still, there will be casualties because a sheep often behaves like a heifer, believing that he can go his own way and prosper. Despite the warnings, he forages in pastures where food will not agree with him.  And tragically, he didn’t notice the tears in the shepherd’s eyes as left. 

Jesus always knows what awaits those who leave the safety of His fold.  Heifers crave distant fields and, for awhile, everything goes well. They relish the exhilaration of autonomy.  They don’t understand that they will be devoured by something. It’s just a matter of time. 

I must be wary of taking the path of the heifer.   I can not live anyway I want and expect to be free of the consequences of a sheep who wanders off.  If I suffer hard times, I shouldn’t yell at Jesus like it’s His fault.  Our poor Lord!  Many thousands of times a day, He is blamed for things that are not of His doing. These accusations comprise the ‘tale of the sheep who have gone astray’. 

Jesus is unpredictable and leads us to new pastures without advance notice.  Nothing stays the same.  I need to listen and then align my path accordingly.  I also need to stick close to other sheep who are listening and following Him. We have each other’s backs.  If I am temporarily dull or distracted, they will tap me on the shoulder and make sure I stay with the group. There is safety in numbers when I join the fold of true disciples.

How can I not follow You, Jesus? You paid with Your own blood for the privilege I enjoy to be one of Your flock. Thank You. Amen 

“I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot.” Hosea 4:3 

Idolatry is instinctive to our fallen natures. We fight a spiritual battle daily.  Even with the Holy Spirit inside, we are still bent to substitute our need for God for other people and other things.  They promise to satisfy for a while and we’re unaware that spiritual prostitution leads to a dead-end.  We will end up somewhere we didn’t want to go, though temptations promise otherwise.  

Have you ever ended up lost and far from home? God seemed so distant.  But our circuitous path was not hidden from God. Though we were off course and disoriented, He had memorized every turn on our wayward excursion. He remembered each fork in the road and which way we chose to go.  Though we ended up feeling like a rat in a maze that couldn’t find its way back, God knew the map.  He took us in reverse to each intersection in the road; allowing us to review our choices. Wisdom was birthed!  And, oh the joy we felt as the lights of home slowly came into view. 

Maybe you and God are estranged because you’ve excluded Him from your life.  You don’t think of moving toward Him because you fear you have strayed too far.  Remember, God’s arm is long and His mercy is deep. He’s calling you home and offering another chance.  It doesn’t matter how far from your roots you have traveled. The way back starts with humility. The author, Brennan Manning says, “I cannot receive what the crucified Rabbi has to give until I stretch out my arms till they ache.”  This is not the time for stoic, half hearted apologies.  This is the time to abandon reservations and cry out.  Going home is always a momentous, emotional event.

Though I often stop reaching for You, You never put Your arms down.  Oh how You love!  Amen 

The Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land because there is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. Hosea 4:1 

God’s people had become like children who have had poor parenting.  The neighbors say of his poor manners and bad behavior, “Poor kid.  He doesn’t know any better.”   

God verbalized His legal complaint.  He said there was no knowledge of Him, no truth, and no mercy.  This knowledge God speaks of is not the kind where a person becomes informed.  It means ‘to know’ God like people know each other through walking in intimacy.  Through a deep familiarity, they know what the other loves and hates.  They can guess what their counterpart might do in a hypothetical situation.  They know how deep the other’s convictions are about certain issues.  They know each other’s moods, even the meaning of a look that comes over their partner’s face.  

If Israel knew God like that, they would have automatically known Truth, and they would known Mercy, because God is both.  The very fact that they lived recklessly, and the very fact that there was no justice in the land, no compassion for the poor, no mercy extended by those who sat in the seats of power and influence, proved that they were far from God.  

We are living in this reality too.  In our godless society, marriages are hanging on by a thread as each partner tries to figure out how to make things work. Without the Word, there is no insight. Without intimacy with God, there is no cure for the pain of intimate relationships out of sync with their Creator. 

The relationship between children and parents has also deteriorated.  Without intimacy with God, lawlessness and disrespect breed like wildfire. Their hearts want what isn’t good for them and their behaviors prove it. Only the mirror of the Scriptures can show any of us where our faces are dirty.  A well-behaved society, even if it were possible, would not fix anything.  Knowing God and being willing to be transformed from sinners to saints is the only cure for this sin-sick land. 

Let not mercy and truth forsake you.  Bind them around your neck.  Write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man. Proverbs 3:3-4

After the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days. Hosea 3:5 

Have you ever come to realize that a love you once spurned was really precious? That often happens. I can decide how love should look and in so doing, I close myself off from other ways love can be expressed. It isn’t until it’s gone that I look back with a bigger and better perspective.  Then I am humbled as I remember one tender gesture after another and think, “How could I have been so blind?” 

Hosea revealed that Israel will one day return to the Lord and they will come trembling because of His goodness toward them. 

Trembling becomes a child of God.  It’s good to take a deep breath and exhale with wonder and humility.  But trembling has an enemy.  It’s entitlement.  With arrogance, we decide how God should function in His role as a Father.  We decide what He should give us and from what things He should save us.  

I remember a family friend saying to me, as he watched his wife suffer from a debilitating disease, “I take better care of my dog than God takes care of my wife.” Perhaps you’ve felt this level of disappointment with God.  I have.  Hindsight and wisdom prove to be effective teachers. We look back and are usually able to see the ways God loved and cared for us. 

How do we surmount the obstacle of disappointment so that we can tremble again at His goodness?  We pursue God relentlessly, even through our tears. The glory of Jesus will surprise us again. An ordinary day will be turned upside down again as the eternal penetrates the temporal.  God’s glory will fill our field of vision again.  We’ll know it is a holy moment.  We’ll take our shoes off.  And, in the afterglow, we’ll tremble in the memory of it.

I review, I remember, and I tremble as I finger the hem of Your garment. Amen 

Then I said to her, “You shall stay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man, so I will also be toward you.” Hosea 3:3 

At this point in the story of Hosea, the harlot is brought home, forgiven, and loved.  It’s the last thing she would anticipate.  Expecting revenge, there’s grace upon grace. 

It’s pretty easy to love when nothing threatens it. I can be gracious with a stranger. I can love others who haven’t hurt me.  But, if I am in relationship with someone who is cruel, who makes promises and breaks them, my desire to be gracious will be eroded by the memories of their treacherous behavior. Revenge, not forgiveness, is the natural response to pain.  I may even be subtle in how I make others pay.  I’ve discovered that there are many ways to exact retribution.   I can even do it with a smile. 

God’s love is not flawed.  It is not layered with mixed messages.   No matter how many times I stab Him in the back, he does not pay me back in revenge. He remains faithful.  He is upfront, gracious, and uncomplicated.  As I trust the mercy He extends, I will be changed to begin loving others as I have been loved.  Perfect love can be cultivated in the heart of the God’s beloved people by the power of the Spirit. 

One of the hardest things God ever called our family to do was to stay in a certain city for  three years. It had been a place of great ministry betrayal and we all wanted to escape.  We dreamt of moving to another place so I could be free from the memories.  (Me, most of all.)  

The Spirit of God spoke to me one morning while reading through Psalm 37. “Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.” Psalm 37:3  He needed to teach me how to thrive in the middle of the wilderness.  He needed to show me that it was possible to live in Egypt without a trace of bitterness.  At the end of the three years, we were called to a new place to live.  We celebrated the move but didn’t feel like we were fleeing.  

Who needs undeserved grace today?  It’s probably the first person who just came to your mind. 

I review how You’ve loved me.  What does that look like as I give it away in strength, not weakness? Amen 

I will betroth you to me forever. Hosea 2: 19 

“I’ll be your friend forever,” one said to another. Yet something fractured their relationship.  The memories of the past haunt them like ghosts.

“I take you as my wife and promise to love you till death do us part,” one said to another.  The personally crafted wedding vows were beautiful, made in earnest, and moved the guests who heard them to tears. It seemed inconceivable that the two who spoke these words became casualties of divorce. 

The best of friendships and the most model marriages are only reflections of a more perfect love. Because they are human, they are flawed.  But God has made a covenant of love with me, just as surely as if there had been a ceremony. In that poignant setting, He spoke these words; “I will betroth you to me forever.”  Can you picture it?  Can you hear Him speak deep in your spirit?  God is the covenant keeper. He does not feel trapped by His promises no matter how unfaithful I may be. He was, and is, energized by making and keeping promises.   He feels as passionately about me today as the day we became one at the cross.

Earthly vows made today may be retracted down the road.  We’ve all seen it.  And you may have experienced it.  Without a connection to the One whose heart never changes, we will become cynical and trust no one.  Upon hearing new vows, we’ll dismiss them.  “Yeah, right!  I’ve heard that before,” we’ll say under our breath.   We won’t be open to new love nor will we be eager to give it.  It’s tragic to become one who has a closed spirit.  

The only cure to cynicism is perfect love.  And it does exist.  It casts out fear and promises nothing but bliss.  Jesus, the Love-Giver, never disappoints.

I renew my vows today.  I pledge myself to You forever. Amen 

I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips. Hosea 2: 17 

The cross symbolizes sacrifice. God sacrificed His Son. Jesus sacrificed His life. And if I decide to follow Jesus Christ, I must sacrifice my rights to worship anything or anyone but Jesus. 

God will remove the names of other gods from my lips. But as long as I speak their names with awe, bonding with God is impossible. He is left wanting for my affection and I am left wanting for that sense of completeness that comes when I am unified with Him in spirit. The resulting emptiness leads to dead-end pursuits; culminating in anger and hopelessness. 

Today, I turn my back to every other god. I give up my right to obsessively pursue perfection. Paint peels, weeds grow, equipment malfunctions, and people are mostly self- centered. If I frantically try to create Eden, I will lay down my head tonight feeling futility, because tomorrow I’ll have to repeat the rigorous exercise all over again. 

How much better to understand that this life only gives momentary reflections of perfection to come. I must embrace imperfection and allow myself to ache for my future home. I must lay down my right to force others to meet my needs. I’ll find that this very sacrifice is the doorway to joy because sacrifice leads to spiritual poverty, and spiritual poverty causes me to cry out to Jesus for spiritual riches. 

Sacrifice feels like death, initially, but sacrifice opens the door to union with God. I am whole by loving Him more than I love myself. I am healed as I worship. Sacrifice gives me the right to abide in the presence of Love. 

If there are any Baals left on my tongue, cleanse my heart. Remove them from my lips. Amen 

“In that day,” declares the LORD, “you will call me `my husband’; you will no longer call me `my master.’ Hosea 2: 16 

God’s message here is a game changer.  ‘You will no longer have to serve me out of fear and obligation.  You will relate to me a new way, an invitation to love.’  

When I am a servant of one who owns me, intimacy is removed.  Yes, if I am faithful, if I work hard, and if I seek to please him, I can be rewarded in a personal ways.  This is as good as it can get as a servant though. 

• If I do an exceptionally good job at a given task, I can be singled out and given a bonus. 
• If he hears that a family member is sick, he can use his personal contacts to find a doctor.
• If he wants my family to feel special, I might receive a personalized gift at holidays. 
• If he is kind and considerate of his servants, he may learn the names of family members. 

But even with these kindnesses, I will still call him ‘sir’ and remember my place.  There will always be a fear of failing my master, of disappointing him, and potentially losing his favor.  I know that our relationship is not personal.  Favor has to be earned; it is not conferred. 

Ah, but God invites me to relate to him in a new way.  No longer a master, but a husband.  Our relationship is exclusive.  My name is written in red ink, through the sacramental rites of the New Covenant.  I am invited to live with Him in inner chambers.  He’s given me His name and access to all He owns.  I don’t have to beg or earn any rights.  All rights have been conferred and I can rest in this place of honor.  And even more, in the loving vows He made. I know that I am no random wife.  I am a chosen bride.  He planned it long ago and waited for me.

And when the door is closed and all is quiet, formalities are history.  What can be heard is love language.  ‘I am yours and you are mine.’  

Rather than wishy washy sentimentality or vague spiritual conviction, this is the beating volcanic heart of our new Adam nature in Christ.  This is the miraculous shift from external appearances to inner realities, from the impossible minutiae of law-keeping to the new morning mercies of grace.   Brenna Manning   THE FURIOUS LONGING OF GOD

There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. Hosea 2: 15 

When was the last time you sang a song of joy?  I don’t mean singing along with a worship band.  I’m talking about the kind that erupts out of a joyful spirit.  It could have been years ago.  Let me ask you, did you sing as a kid?  Can you remember what it felt like to skip down the road? “That child is long gone,” you might say. 

Adult life can remove us from carefree days of childhood. Bubbling joy is a distant memory. We can’t imagine ever feeling that way again. Sometimes we’re trapped by the existence of our own choosing. In our youth, we made poor choices and now we face long-term consequences. Perhaps there were warning signs, perhaps not. 

I know a few women who say that the man they married started changing the day after their wedding. He slowly became a stranger. They can’t imagine how their soul will survive a lifetime of matrimony.  We can also feel trapped by things that are out of our control. An accident leaves us in a wheelchair. Our child is diagnosed with leukemia. We are called upon to care for an aging parent with Alzheimer’s. Will we ever feel like singing again? Even faintly?  We would say no. We believe the song has died. 

God is reaching out to His children in their silence. No mistake is too severe for His mercy. And, there is no twist of fate. God is sovereign and knew the elements of our story long before we lived our life. No tragedy is beyond redemptive grace. His love is for any who no longer know how to sing. He says, “I see you! I’m here. I am where your joy is!” He wants to set our souls free from the bars of despair. 

The way to abounding joy is to behold something more beautiful than anything in this world.  And we’re invited to do so in the face of Jesus.  He invites us to gaze upon His beauty and discover all the love in His eyes.  Soulful music will always be the result. 

You are the song. Amen