"How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? . . . My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred." —Hosea 11:8
Is there any human feeling more powerful than that of betrayal? Ask a high school girl whose boyfriend has dumped her for a pretty cheerleader. Or tune your radio to a country-western station and listen to the lyrics of infidelity. Or check out the murders reported in the daily newspaper, an amazing number of which trace back to a quarrel with an estranged lover.
In the Old Testament, God through Hosea’s marriage demonstrates in living color exactly what it is like to love someone desperately and get nothing in return. Not even God, with all His power, will force a human being to love Him.
Many people think of God as an impersonal force, something akin to the law of gravity. The book of Hosea portrays almost the opposite: a God of passion and fury and tears and love. A God in mourning over Israel’s rejection of Him (11:8).
God the lover does not desire to share His bride with anyone else. Yet, amazingly, when Israel turned her back on God, He stuck with her. He was willing to suffer, in hope that someday she would return to Him.
Hosea, and later Jesus, prove that God longs not to punish but to love. In fact, He loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us!
Love sent the Savior to die in my stead.
Why should He love me so?
Meekly to Calvary’s cross He was led.
Why should He love me so? —Harkness
God loved us so much, He sent His only Son.
Verse of the day
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13:6-7
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S VERSE...
Always love - pretty tall order and pretty tough stuff. Only God is "always." But then Christians are fueled to a always love through the Holy Spirit! Check out the promised source of "always" love in Romans 5:5.
MY PRAYER...
Sweet and Glorious God on High, I humble myself before you, recognizing your boundless power to love, the incredible need for love in the lives of those around me, and my limited ability to love. Please pour your Holy Spirit into my heart and fill me with the power to love as you do, always. In Jesus' sweet name I pray. Amen.
1 Corinthians 13:6-7
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S VERSE...
Always love - pretty tall order and pretty tough stuff. Only God is "always." But then Christians are fueled to a always love through the Holy Spirit! Check out the promised source of "always" love in Romans 5:5.
MY PRAYER...
Sweet and Glorious God on High, I humble myself before you, recognizing your boundless power to love, the incredible need for love in the lives of those around me, and my limited ability to love. Please pour your Holy Spirit into my heart and fill me with the power to love as you do, always. In Jesus' sweet name I pray. Amen.
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