”Therefore, I am going to persuade her, lead her to the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her vineyards back to her and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt. In that day — this is the Lord’s declaration — you will call me “my husband” and no longer call me “my Baal.” For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth; they will no longer be remembered by their names.“
Hosea 2:14-17 CSB
https://bible.com/bible/1713/hos.2.14-17.CSB
This passage is incredible because God has just described Israel as having rejected His blessings and chased after all the filthy lust and foolish living they craved. He shows them the reality of their situation, and then brings them back into a place of peace and tenderly reminds them of who He is. There is no manipulation, just clear eyed truth laid out plainly. How gentle! How caring! How compassionate! How not like me…
The last verse of this section is the most hopeful, God does the work of removing the stain of their past. He takes away the desire for sin, He removes the memory of desire and restores us to Himself! Who does that!?! Only God can find us wallowing in the filth of sin and tenderly brings us back to clean us up and bless us.
What a God we serve! Lord may I have clarity to see where I am wallowing in sin, and quickly follow you into the peacefulness of nature to hear your voice and be cleansed and restored! Lord may you transform my life so that those around me wallowing in filth, recognize you in me and desire to know you more and live in peace!
No comments:
Post a Comment