Days 159&160: Hosea 6-14

So many times people make the mistake of thinking that religion is simply a matter of keeping the right rules. They think it's a system...a philosophy...but true religion is a relationship. This makes all the difference. When we sin it's not simply a matter of breaking a rule and paying a fine...when we sin we hurt Someone who loves us more than we can possibly imagine. The image Hosea paints is that when we stray from God it hurts Him in the same way a straying spouse hurts his/her lover.

Listen to God's heart...

“When Israel was a child, I loved him,
   and out of Egypt I called my son.
But the more they were called,
   the more they went away from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
   and they burned incense to images.
It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
   taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
   it was I who healed them.
I led them with cords of human kindness,
   with ties of love.
To them I was like one who lifts
   a little child to the cheek,
   and I bent down to feed them. (11:1-4)

But persisting in unfaithfulness will result in a divorce...

“You are destroyed, Israel,
   because you are against me, against your helper.
Where is your king, that he may save you?
   Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
   ‘Give me a king and princes’?
So in my anger I gave you a king,
   and in my wrath I took him away.
The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
   his sins are kept on record. (13:9-12)

But repentance can restore the relationship. God stands ready to completely forgive and "love us freely"...

Return, Israel, to the LORD your God.
   Your sins have been your downfall!
Take words with you
   and return to the LORD.
Say to him:
   “Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
   that we may offer the fruit of our lips.
Assyria cannot save us;
   we will not mount warhorses.
We will never again say ‘Our gods’
   to what our own hands have made,
   for in you the fatherless find compassion.”  
“I will heal their waywardness
   and love them freely,
   for my anger has turned away from them. (14:1-4)