Tuesday, July 17: Hosea 6 - Come home.

Come home, come home; no matter where you have been, come home.

As I read this chapter, particularly with its opening invitation to return, I thought of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Even though we think of the Old Testament God as harsh and judgmental, this chapter paints a portrait that breathes with the spirit and message of the loving gracious New Testament.

NO matter where Israel has been, God is calling them to come home: Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds (1).  God will heal; God will bind up… like the Father in Jesus’ parable, God will embrace!

After a while of pondering, my thoughts slid to verse 6: For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. As I ruminated on this, it struck me, God desires relationship not just rule-following. I hope this isn’t too far a stretch.

Mercy suggests the ways of God have moved into one’s inner being. This happens as I spend time with a person, appreciate a person, watch and learn from a person… when my time with a person infects me and changes me. That’s relationship.

Acknowledgement…  recognizing God and His place in life and my life. After all, my relationship with the Lord is different than between two friends or lovers. God after all, is God. Yet, God desires a relationship with us!

So as I sat quietly with Jesus this morning. I contemplated the love of God He brought into my life and the relationship He invites me into…

What a wonderful morning in God’s Word.

Oh, Lord, I bask in your love and mercy this morning. I pray that it so infects me that it oozes out all day long as I meet and interact with others. May they see a love in me that I can then explain comes from You. Hallelujah. Amen.

 

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