God sees us in our sin. He says, “You are not My people.” He sees us in
our Saviour. He says, “You are the children of the living God” (Hosea
1:10). This is grace. This is salvation. This is the love of God. When
this great truth reaches us, we are changed. What “a great day” it is
when the Lord’s people, gathered together in the Name of the Lord, are
led forward with God and by God into true and lasting spiritual growth
and blessing.“I will make the Valley of Achor (Disaster) a door of hope” (Hosea
2:15). What a word of encouragement this is! Here’s another great word
of encouragement: “Those who are not loved I will call My loved ones.
Those who are not My people I will call My people.” The Lord has done
great things for us. By His grace, we are able to say, “You are my God”
(Hosea 2:23).
God says, “I will wait for you” (Hosea 3:3). The
people were slow to respond to God’s love. God’s Word says, “They will
come trembling to the Lord for His blessings in the last days” (Hosea
3:5). How wonderfully patient the Lord is! He doesn’t compel us to come
to Him. He waits patiently, until we find it in our hearts to come and
receive the new life which He, in love, is offering to us.
“The
people of Israel are as stubborn as a bull” (Hosea 4:16). This is more
than the story of Israel. It’s the story of every one of us. Resisting
God’s Spirit and rebelling against God’s Word, we dig ourselves, more
and more deeply, into a hole of our own making. It is a hole from which
we cannot lift ourselves. We can only be saved by the Lord. The
stubbornness must be taken out of our hearts. Love for Christ must be
put into our hearts. It is His love which changes us. He breaks down our
stubbornness. He builds in us a new and true love for Him.
Following
many words about sin in Hosea 5, we have a call to “return to the
Lord.” The people hear God’s call, and they say, “Let’s return to the
Lord” (Hosea 6:1). This call to return to the Lord comes to us with the
promise of His healing - “He will heal us” (Hosea 6:1), His revival -
“He will revive us” (Hosea 6:2), and His life - “He will raise us so
that we may live in His presence” (Hosea 6:2). We hear the bad news of
our sin so that our hearts may be prepared by the Lord to receive the
Good News of His great salvation. Once we have returned to the Lord, we
are called to give ourselves to him in loyalty - “I want your loyalty,
not your sacrifices” (Hosea 6:8).
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