The heavens praise Your wonders, O LORD,

Your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.

“Then I told her,

‘You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live with you.'”

Remember, this love Hosea is showing Gomer is “as the LORD loves the Israelites…” (3:1b)

Exodus 20:2&3 is a commandment.

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

You shall have no other gods before me.”

As Gomer is to not be intimate with anyone, so Israel is not to worship anyone else.

And just as Hosea wants Gomer to be repentant, God doesn’t seem to just want the same old Israel back.  He wants a people whose hearts are fully devoted to Him.

Has He disciplined you like this?  Was the result a heart more fully devoted to Him?  One that worships Him alone…not just because you “should” but because you know nothing else will satisfy?

But hey.  Something else.  Can I address some others who may be reading this?  Especially if you feel like this isn’t your story.  If you’ve been committed to Him without pride or legalism.  If it hasn’t taken many hard lessons for you to be faithful.  If, when you’re honest, you’ve wondered at those who seem to not have your steadiness.

I think He would want you to know you don’t have to feel bad about your story.  Especially if your heart isn’t full of pride and your “goodness” isn’t what you trust in.  But from a deep place within, He has always been enough and you haven’t been lured by the rest.

Can I say to you one more thing?  The rest of us need you.  Those of us who in our heart of hearts are trusting in our rightness before Him.  And those of us who keep wandering off.  Or those of us who swing from one to the other, depending on the day.

I truly believe God is doing something in our time on this planet.  I think He is drawing the Good Ones back to a place where they’re just beggars in need of grace.  And I think He is using His Bride to show those who feel so far from Him that they, too, can come near – because it’s not about what they’ve done but what He’s done.

We need you, Steady Ones.  Can you help us?  Can you love the lot of us?

The final part of this short but meaty chapter ends, once again, in a prophetic word:

“For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol.  Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king.  They will come trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days.”

Israel as a nation was to go into captivity.  They would have no king, no government, no temple in which to sacrifice to Yahweh.  But “afterward” they will return to Him.  The mention of David refers to the coming Messiah from his royal line.

In other words?  This final section is not ultimately about Israel as a kingdom.  It is about those who will be drawn to the wonder and beauty of Jesus.

He is the Ultimate King.  We come trembling before Him – not just because He can discipline and chastise, but because of His incredible mercy.

We’ve been bought back.  All of us.  Unlike the lowly slave price Hosea paid for Gomer, Jesus paid the highest, most costly price for us.

And when we see Him in His beauty, we don’t come before Him the same.

We have been going through Jesus Calling for Kids at breakfast.

This morning, big one was clearly not paying attention.  So I decided to test him on what I had just read out loud.

I go, “So what’s it like to walk with Him?” with a specific answer from the text in my mind.

He looked at me a bit startled, then got thoughtful.  Instead of scrambling for the “right” answer, he goes,

“It’s like lying on a bed with no one else around…and He’s your Dad.”

Show us Your unfailing love, O LORD…

Love and faithfulness meet together;

Righteousness and peace kiss each other.

Yesterday was incredibly charming.

First of all, it was almost 70 degrees.  In January.  I had a walking date at the Y and taught a class.  Then little one and I rode scooters up and down our street.  I had to take off my sweatshirt, friends!

After school pick up we raced home so big one could put on shorts and I popped popcorn and threw it in a brown paper bag.  We gathered up Nerf guns and met our friends at the park by the school.

Two things:

1.  We are never bringing Nerf guns to the park again.

2.  We are never bringing Nerf guns to the park again.

The sun was just barely starting to set at 5:15.  We headed home to chicken in the crock pot.  We watched Kid Snippets with Dad and went to bed at a decent time.  (Well, I fell asleep on the couch with my contacts in, but whatever.)

I know winter will come back.  But I’m grateful for days like yesterday to soak up the sun.

What are you grateful for?

Well, this feels odd.  I am going to share some things and I have no idea who will read this. The truth is, some of my sweet friends who believe differently than I may take a gander.

But I have learned so much about loving those who may not believe exactly what I do.  And I really want to share my heart on this.

First of all, when I began to seriously desire to walk with Jesus, I thought I had to have my life all together.  Especially in front of those who didn’t know Him.  I thought the only way to draw people to Him was to show them how great I was.

Basically?  I came across as a weirdo.

I was much more focused on performing for people than loving them.

And people know when you love them.

One of my favorite quotes on this topic I heard second-hand a long time ago.  A Christ follower was asked by a friend,

“Are you my friend so I will believe in Jesus…or do you want me to believe in Jesus because I’m your friend?”

That has always stuck with me.

I know I don’t want to be a project to someone.  I want people to walk beside me and love me.

Know what?  I’m pretty sure that’s what everyone wants.

What are you thinking?  Has anyone ever loved you like this?  Do you struggle with thinking things have to be perfect if others are going to be drawn to Him?

The LORD said to me,

“Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress.  Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”

Wanna try to get inside Hosea’s brain now?

So.  You obey God and marry a woman of unfaithfulness.  He has already told you she will break your heart.  You courageously love her anyway.  You make a life together and she has your children.

Then she runs away.

Back to her lovers.  Back to all she thought would give her freedom.

What must have been going through his mind?  Do you think, like us, he struggled with whether or not he’d heard God correctly?  Think he wanted to just leave her gone?  Let her suffer?

Wonder if he talked to others about it?  What must his family have said?  Think anyone said I told you so?

What must he have thought looking at Jezreel, Lo-Ruhamah and Lo-Ammi?  Perhaps then he most felt the full force of the meaning of their names.  It is easy to feel not loved and abandoned when your heart is broken.

I wonder if he held his little girl and wept?  What did he tell her when she asked when mommy would be home?

How about the boys?  How do you think he felt in front of them?

With no judgment (I have no room to pass any!), I was wondering…how about you?  What do you run back to?  When things are hard or when they’re good, in what ways do you run away?

How does that affect those you love?

So here he is.  Hosea is alone and obviously long enough for his wife to be loved by another.  And what does he hear?

“Go, show your love to your wife again…”

Was he relieved?  Do you think he had been wanting to go after her, but wasn’t sure of God’s plan? Or was he angry and hurt and obeyed completely for obedience sake?

“So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley.”

Did you notice?  He had to buy her back.  We don’t know if she was another man’s personal, legal property at this point or serving as a temple prostitute.  Either way, she was a slave.

Our idols do not love us.

They cannot.  They weren’t created to fulfill us and they certainly aren’t worthy of our worship.

Idols steal our dignity.

Jesus always restores it.

In my college days I got to read a great book about the difference between training and trying.

It’s called The Life You’ve Always Wanted.

But the subtitle is the best part: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People.

Of course, there are no other people but ordinary ones.  Fortunately God can use our imperfect selves.

The author likened the difference in training and trying to running a marathon.  Imagine you are sitting on your couch and the Olympic committee knocks on your door and tells you you’ve been selected to run a marathon for your country.  You get super excited and then realize: You can’t run a marathon.  Even if you tried really, really hard.

The only way to run a marathon is to train for one.

Spiritual disciplines are how to train.  The author, John Ortberg, defines a spiritual discipline as “any activity that can help me gain power to live life as Jesus taught and modeled it.”  (pg. 52)  And the goal – a disciple of Jesus – is “someone who can do the right thing at the right time in the right way with the right spirit.” (pg. 54)

Just typing that is ridiculously convicting.

I love, love, love the author makes sure to say these are not just a few activities done at special times of the day. Rather, every moment of our lives is “an opportunity to learn from God how to live like Jesus, how to live in the kingdom of God.” (pg. 24)

Okay, now you.  Ever thought of the difference between training and trying?  Struggle, like me, to want to try really hard?  Do you think of every moment of your life as a chance to train?

I really want to know.

We give thanks to You, O God,

We give thanks, for Your Name is near…

The LORD said to me,

“Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress.  Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”

I’m actually glad to get back to Hosea and Gomer’s story.  I’ve been thinking about them. Remember, all this was actually being played out in their lives.

So imagine with me.  When do you think she left?  What feelings might she have been having?

How do you think she felt about Jezreel, her first son?  He was at least 8 or 9 based on weaning ages and the spacing of their children.  Do you think she loved him?  Think he was all boy?  Ornery?  Or more serious?  Protective?  Think he loved his mama?

What about their daughter, Lo-Ruhamah (Not Loved)?  Was that still her name?  At the end of chapter two God talks about a future time when God’s people – ‘Not my loved one’ – will be shown love.  We know that was future prophecy, but what about Hosea and Gomer’s sweet girl?  Did God allow them to change her name?

No matter her name, do you think Gomer ever held her as she slept and marveled at her face? Do you think she traced her finger over her features and could hardly imagine why Hosea had said they had to name her Not Loved?  Do you think some of the hardness of her heart softened in those moments?

How about her baby boy, Lo-Ammi (Not My People).  How do you think Gomer felt about her youngest?  Think she ever felt like her heart would burst looking at him?  I wonder if she both loved and feared the tender feelings.

I wonder if that’s when she ran away.  Maybe she weaned her youngest and headed out. Think she wondered if they even needed her?

Or was she overwhelmed?  Feeling burdened with responsibilities and wanting to retreat?

Maybe it wasn’t anything like this.  Maybe she was purely selfish and cruel and bitter.  But, remember, God told Hosea to marry a woman of unfaithfulness.  A prostitute.  I cannot think of a single healthy little girl who would willingly choose that profession.  Who dreams of growing up and being used.

I like taking a speculative peek behind motives.  But no matter motives, we cannot ignore sin. The story of Hosea and Gomer is an allegory for Israel.  We know they sinned.  And God never lets any of us off the hook for our sin.

We come to the cross as complete, desperate beggars.  All of us.  None of us can come near a pure, holy God.  All of our hands are filthy.  Our hearts are deceitful.  Our souls betray Him over and over.

He had to come for us.  We could never get to Him on our own.  He had to live the perfect life we never could and die as a sacrifice we could never make.

So, no, we don’t know the why behind Gomer’s sin.

But we know she left.

We know God had Hosea go and show her love again.

We know how that feels.

None of us who belong to Him have been perfectly faithful to our Bridegroom.  We know how it feels to walk away.  To break His heart. To scorn His blessings and seek out other things.

How we need Him to keep showing us His love.

And He always, always does.