Hard Obedience
There have been times when I felt the Lord called me to do something hard, but I must say that it was nothing quite as hard as He asked Hosea. At this time the Lord only spoke to His people through the prophets. This guy, Hosea was following God and the Lord was about to start speaking through him. The first instructions really set the stage for Hosea’s entire book of prophesy recorded in the Old Testament. Check this out…
2 When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.” (Hosea 1:2 NLT)
The Lord was trying to teach His people a lesson that was practical. He used the obedience of His prophet Hosea and the waywardness of Hosea’s wife to teach Israel some basic truth. This is a painful story to read as I process the different perspectives. I can hardly imagine being connected to this marriage in any way. If I were a relative of either of the two adults in the story, I would be dumbfounded. It would be hard to miss the message of the Lord.
When I take a personal look at my journey, I’ve been a lot more like Gomer, the prostitute that I want to admit. I’ve checked my faith at the door when there was something that I really wanted to do or be. My faith journey is full of times when I surrendered to sin that was so attractive in the moment. The consequences of sin are sometimes reverberating for a lifetime. I’m so thankful for God and His patience with me. He is so kind and fully of grace. He used Hosea to show grace and mercy when punishment was deserved.
I have returned to the Lord, and I want to glorify Him in how I live today and going forward!
Pressing On!
Dwayne