Good morning -
The preacher married a prostitute. That's the kind of news that makes tabloid headlines but it happened to be a God-inspired object lesson:
The word of Yahweh which came to Hosea the son of Beeri, during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, "Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the LORD." (Hosea 1:1-2)
The people of Israel had persistently been unfaithful to God and had turned to idol worship as well as every imaginable form of wicked behavior. God chose the marriage of a prophet to a prostitute as an object lesson to illustrate the reality of Israel's behavior and to attempt to bring about repentance and spiritual renewal.
Over the years I've talked with a number of couples whose marriages were rocked by unfaithfulness. One thing was common with each couple: unfaithfulness didn't just suddenly happen; it resulted from years of neglect and erosion in areas of communication and intimacy.
Spiritual unfaithfulness works much the same way: it comes about through gradual erosion in areas of prayer and Bible study. Jesus warned the church at Ephesus: "I have this against you, that you have left your first love." (Revelation 2:4). They didn't just leave their first love overnight; they gradually moved away.
Reality is that our spiritual lives will ebb and flow; none are immune to 'ups' and 'downs'. The real problem is when we lose our desire for fellowship with the Lord in prayer and through Bible study. Feelings follow actions. When we commit to discipline ourselves to practice prayer and Bible study feelings will eventually follow.
I'm reminded of the lyrics of a song that plead, "Oh Lord, please light the fire that once burned bright and clear. Replace the lamp of my first love that burns with holy fear." Sometimes the fire within dims and needs to be rekindled. Joy is sometimes absent from the disciplines that once brought joy and life to us spiritually. We cry out, as King David did, "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation" (Psalm 51:12).
God instructed Hosea to marry a prostitute in an effort to get the attention of His wayward people. He cares enough to take drastic measures to bring His people back to Himself.
If we've been unfaithful to the Lord and allowed our heart to become attached to something or someone else, be assured that He wants us back and is actively reaching out to us. The motivation to return is that the heart of the One who loves us most yearns for us more than we will ever know.
Pastor Steve
The preacher married a prostitute. That's the kind of news that makes tabloid headlines but it happened to be a God-inspired object lesson:
The word of Yahweh which came to Hosea the son of Beeri, during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, "Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the LORD." (Hosea 1:1-2)
The people of Israel had persistently been unfaithful to God and had turned to idol worship as well as every imaginable form of wicked behavior. God chose the marriage of a prophet to a prostitute as an object lesson to illustrate the reality of Israel's behavior and to attempt to bring about repentance and spiritual renewal.
Over the years I've talked with a number of couples whose marriages were rocked by unfaithfulness. One thing was common with each couple: unfaithfulness didn't just suddenly happen; it resulted from years of neglect and erosion in areas of communication and intimacy.
Spiritual unfaithfulness works much the same way: it comes about through gradual erosion in areas of prayer and Bible study. Jesus warned the church at Ephesus: "I have this against you, that you have left your first love." (Revelation 2:4). They didn't just leave their first love overnight; they gradually moved away.
Reality is that our spiritual lives will ebb and flow; none are immune to 'ups' and 'downs'. The real problem is when we lose our desire for fellowship with the Lord in prayer and through Bible study. Feelings follow actions. When we commit to discipline ourselves to practice prayer and Bible study feelings will eventually follow.
I'm reminded of the lyrics of a song that plead, "Oh Lord, please light the fire that once burned bright and clear. Replace the lamp of my first love that burns with holy fear." Sometimes the fire within dims and needs to be rekindled. Joy is sometimes absent from the disciplines that once brought joy and life to us spiritually. We cry out, as King David did, "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation" (Psalm 51:12).
God instructed Hosea to marry a prostitute in an effort to get the attention of His wayward people. He cares enough to take drastic measures to bring His people back to Himself.
If we've been unfaithful to the Lord and allowed our heart to become attached to something or someone else, be assured that He wants us back and is actively reaching out to us. The motivation to return is that the heart of the One who loves us most yearns for us more than we will ever know.
Pastor Steve
posted by steve @ 10:48 AM
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