From Ben – 30 July 2017
In my bible reading and devotional times I have been working my way through the short Old Testament prophesy of Hosea. It is one of those shorter books of the O.T. where God uses the prophet to give Israel a last warning to turn back to Him, lest He judge them severely for their two-timing God, by worshipping idols.
Chapter 9 is particularly strong, but then in v10 God says something to Israel which stopped me in my tracks –
“When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert.
When I saw your fathers, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree.”
Both these vivid pictures speak of a very pleasant surprise that no doubt would bring joy to the weary traveler or the expectant farmer.
As I reflected on these 2 pictures I thanked God that this is just how He felt about you and me when we turned from our sin and asked Him to save us. God was delighted and joyful to have us turn to Him. What a wonderful thought to realise that we, who do not deserve His love and forgiveness, bring joy and delight to the heart of God when we fully turn to Him.
Let us be careful not to invoke His jealousy and sorrow by saying we love Him, but then behaving as Israel did and running after other things. That is tantamount to two-timing God.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.