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"I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings." -Hosea 6:6
Hosea... I've been reading Francine Rivers book "Redeeming Love" since summer. I started it on vacation and have not had time to actually sit and finish it. I need more than 20 minutes here and there.
"Redeeming Love" is based on the book of Hosea in the Bible.It makes me want to study it more. Hosea is not a book I've truly studied outside of some individual passages.
Hosea's wife, Gomer, broke his heart again and again with her unfaithful ways. Still, her pursued her seeking to rescue and restore. He didn't give up. Through the analogy of marriage, Hosea brings to light more than the justice face of God, but His heart that continues to love the one that breaks it again and again. In Hosea's case, he is speaking to Israel, but it is for us, too.
Ponder this: It is not a pathetic love that seeks to rescue and restore... but a love like no other.
Good Morning Earworm... "His love never fails. It never gives up. Never gives up on me." Yes, Earworm has picked the perfect song again.
God's love is a sacred love that covers our sins and sets us free. The burden of shame lifted and relationship restored. He's after our hearts. He wants our attention. He longs for us to be no longer easily distracted... but delighting in His love. Relishing a love that is confident and sure. A love that grows us beyond anything that might be in our past.
How often do I break his heart? What unfaithful ways hurt the relationship? He wants to be our "first love" and our last. He longs for us to be faithful all of the time. Not just when it is convenient. He wants us to love him back. He want's us to let His love fuel our love for others. He wants us to burn for him... with an aching desire to spend time in his presence.
Are we brave enough to trust such a consuming love? Have we said "Yes" to the best love of all?
He is waiting. He is real. He knows when we are unfaithful and it breaks His heart. Like every swing of the hammer to nail that pinned Jesus to the cross.
"You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart." -Jeremiah 29:13
Hosea did not seek to put Gomer to death... as the law would have allowed. He chose to love her back into relationship with his faithfulness. Wow! Right? It is a love like no other.
Today, I am grateful for a love that seeks our hearts.
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