Corona Devo 3058

It is a repeated message in the Bible: Our sin and worship of other things is seen by God.  ...And there's a pattern with God's people: the more affluent our lives and our nations--the more pagan altars we seem to build.  


How prosperous Israel is—a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit.  But the richer the people get, the more pagan altars they build.  The more bountiful their harvests, the more beautiful their sacred pillars.  ~Hosea 10:1

Written over 2000 years ago, we want to dismiss Hosea's words, and pretend that he wrote them to ancient Israel (alone).  But although Hosea penned these verses warning of faith-adultery against God...Hosea did not write these words, disciplining Israel.  God wrote these words.  God wrote the entire Bible, including the book of Hosea, and He wrote it for all of His people, for all time (yesterday's people/today's people/tomorrow's generations too.)
 
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, (17) so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  ~2 Timothy 3:16-17 

The Bible will apply to us today, just as it applied to generations past and just as it will-apply to generations to come.  And it is God's Word, for all of us...no expiration date. 

The Bible (the Book of Hosea included) absolutely applies to us today.  The question is: will we apply the Bible to our lives today?

Warning: Sometimes (some verses) are going to hurt.

In Hosea, God is not just calling Israel out on its worship of luxuries and comfort.  God is speaking to us and to the nations of the world today.  He is calling us out on our obsessions with other things and our distance from Him and His ways.  God is also warning us of the consequence that He will bring if we do not right-the-ship of our hearts back toward Him.

God is holy.  He cannot accept our disobedience to His ways.

Read Hosea's words of warning today.  Written (originally) for ancient Israel, but also (absolutely) written for us today.

How prosperous Israel is—a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit.  But the richer the people get, the more pagan altars they build.  The more bountiful their harvests, the more beautiful their sacred pillars. 

(2) The hearts of the people are fickle; they are guilty and must be punished.  The Lord will break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars. 

(3) Then they will say, “We have no king because we didn’t fear the Lord.  But even if we had a king, what could he do for us anyway?” 

(4) They spout empty words and make covenants they don’t intend to keep.  So injustice springs up among them like poisonous weeds in a farmer’s field... 

(9) The Lord says, “O Israel, ever since Gibeah, there has been only sin and more sin!  You have made no progress whatsoever... (10) Now whenever it fits my plan, I will attack you, too.  I will call out the armies of the nations to punish you for your multiplied sins.  

(11) “Israel is like a trained heifer treading out the grain—an easy job she loves.  
But I will put a heavy yoke on her tender neck.  I will force Judah to pull the plow and Israel to break up the hard ground.

(12) I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love.  Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’ 

(13) “But you have cultivated wickedness and harvested a thriving crop of sins...  ~Hosea 10:1-4, 9-13

Tsk, tsk, tsk...
Israel, Israel, Israel...
Us, us, us...

Our sin and worship of other things is seen by God.

And the consequences of a person/a people/a nation that abandons the Lord...are real.  

But those consequences don't have to come, or at least can be delayed: if we will drop our dedication-to-decadence and our worship-of-riches...and if we will return our hearts to God.

The Lord gives us the exact recipe to do so:

I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love.  Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’  ~Hosea 10:12

These are our exact steps back to God.  He tells us exactly what to do. 
Will we do it today?  

We have wandered in worshiping the Lord (only).  But we can wander/meander/make-a-bee-line back to our Heavenly Father's arms.  They are outstretched for us if our heart/worship/love/obedience is outstretched for Him.

Let's not dismiss the words of Hosea today.  Let's not dismiss the words of God today.  
Just as ancient Israel had a choice...we have a choice.  And we have a holy God who has great love for us.  Let's return to Him today.
 
“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”  
(13) Rend your heart and not your garments.  Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.  ~Joel 2:12-13

~~~

Plant the good seeds of righteousness today.
Harvest a crop of love today.
Plow up the hard ground of our hearts today. 
Seek the Lord, today. 
(Hosea 10:12)

Amen.


 Blessings,

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