Restoration from Rebellion

Reading #3 | July 7, 2021

How many of us are filled with romantic notions of love, such as love at first sight, love overriding all logic, going with your heart and not your head? How many of us are filled with anger and unforgiveness when the love we thought existed is broken or destroyed? Such as an affair, lustful thoughts, or adulterous behavior. Illusions of love aren’t about what is, but what we wish. True love is about accepting what is and going toward it.

In Hosea 3, God directs Hosea to stay with his adulterous wife and love her. At other points in the Bible, such as Deuteronomy 24:1 and Matthew 19:7-8 God permits divorce, but never commands it. God is clear on his principle of love. He says to love even when it is hard.

This Scripture shows us love as a matter of will. God’s will is in everything we do. Hosea chooses to go back to his wife, Gomer. He chooses to restore their marriage from her rebellious behavior. God needed the Israelites to see Hosea and Gomer as the living lesson of His relationship with them. The people were in their own form of adultery, yet God still loved them and stayed with them. God restored his relationship with the Israelites from their rebellious behavior.

Are we any different in today’s world? Are we any different from Gomer or Israel? The message of Hosea 3 is still true today. God’s love is ever present. Even when we stray, God takes us back and loves us. God’s love is ever faithful!

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My name is Ellen Yang and I am a member of St. John’s, Salisbury. I am a graduating senior at Salisbury High School and will be attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the fall.

To Consider

1. What hope did Hosea have?
2. Can you think of a time in your own life when you’ve chosen restoration from rebellion?

Prayer

Dear Lord, We praise you for your grace and forgiveness which you bestow upon all of us. We thank you for never giving up on us and sticking by us even at times when we don’t deserve your love. We ask that others in the world will know you, love you, and trust in your unfailing devotion to each and every one of us. Amen

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