July 6, 2024
Passage Read: Daniel 12 - Hosea 3
Meditation Verses: Hosea 2:8-15
Thought
Those whom the Lord loves, He rebukes and disciplines. He loves Israel but Israel keeps going after other gods, ignoring His commands and His ways, and pursuing those who grant her every wish and fulfill her every want. She thinks it is her lovers who provide all her riches and wealth and comfort, but it is the Lord, her Husband and Maker. So He promised to remove all riches and blessing and comfort from her, to wall her in, to cast her into the wilderness, where she is devastated, with nothing left to her. At that point, she will be able to see that it was always the Lord who provided for her and loved her. He will remind her and woo her and she will be restored to Him and to her former joy.
Application
How sad it is that we are so quick to lose sight of the Lord. How sad it is that we are so quick to turn to the world, to other "powers" that seem to offer joy and gladness and everything we could wish for, and it is those things that lead us astray. They promise (and seem to deliver) everything our hearts desire, and ask nothing in return, but give us complete freedom to do whatever we like, whatever we find most pleasurable. If the Lord loves us, eventually He acts in jealousy and strips us of everything, not because He hates us, but because He loves us, and there is no real life or hope outside of Him. How hard it is to understand that being stripped of everything is necessary to bring us back to the truth, that it was always God providing for us and taking care of us. It was only ever He that truly loved us. Our "lovers" care nothing for us, but just use us, string us along, then toss us aside when we're no longer entertaining to them. How sad it is that God must act in such extreme ways in order to win or regain the devotion He alone always and ever deserved. Lord, let my only joy be to know and to serve You. Help me let go of all the things in this world and in my heart that hinder my devotion and dedication to You. And whatever You bless me with in this life, let it only deepen my delight in and dedication to You. Whatever distracts me, Lord, if I can't get past it, please take it away.