Head Scratcher — Hosea - Monday
Today’s Verse
Joel 2:13b
Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. (NLT)
One of our favorite traditions on the 4th of July is to go to Wilmore, KY and watch the 4th of July parade. It’s your stereotypical small town parade complete with tractors, fire trucks, lawn mowers, and (most importantly) candy.
In the first year we attended (when our kids were much younger), we didn’t really know what to expect. So when cars and trucks started driving past, throwing candy out, my kids were more than excited. The problem was that most of the candy ended up in the road, and my kids knew they weren’t allowed to go into the street. They tried to snatch up any stray candy that made it to us, but the majority of the candy was out of their reach. We saw other kids running out to pick up candy, so we looked at our kids and told them it was ok and they could go out in the road to get the candy.
Our daughter was carefully running out to grab candy and then returning to safety. But before we knew what was going on, our son was gone. He was sprinting towards the car that was throwing out candy. He had decided to skip the candy lying in the road and chase after the source of that candy. (He was amazingly fast for a 4-year-old.) We called out to him to stop, but he had no intention of stopping. He had candy in his sights and was running as fast as his little legs could go.
This picture of our son is what comes to mind when I think of this story of Hosea. Gomer was running away from Hosea, and no matter what he did to call her back, she had her sights on something else. She was running towards her own desires and away from her husband.
And too often, this is what we do.
…We run.
Not just away from God, but toward something we think will satisfy us more — success, comfort, affirmation, pleasure, independence. And like my son chasing candy, we don’t always see the danger in the road ahead. We just see what we want, and we run for it.
But Joel 2:13 gives us hope. Even in our running, even when we've ignored His voice calling us back, God doesn't respond with anger or abandonment. He responds with mercy. Compassion. Unfailing love. He is ALWAYS there to welcome us back. But it’s up to us to stop running.
REFLECTION
What are you chasing? Where are you running? Is it towards Christ or away from Him? Take some time today to identify what you’re running towards and make the decision to stop. Then share that decision with someone who can help hold you accountable to that decision.