Hosea 14
Bible Passage: Hosea 14
We have come to the last chapter of Hosea and the last verse of Hosea is quite apt as we come to the last few days of 2013.
Who is wise?
Let him understand these things.
Who is prudent?
Let him know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right;
The righteous walk in them,
But transgressors stumble in them.~ Hosea 14:9
In this month’s reading of Hosea, we see God constantly warning the Israelites about their sin and the consequences of all their wrong doings.
But it is not all doom and gloom. Right at the last chapter, Hosea changes his tone to one that is very encouraging.
The encouragement is familiar and yet ignored most of the time…
Confess our sins and turn back to God.
One of the things we are conditioned to think is that we decide what we want to be. We decide if we want to do a certain kind of work or study such and such a course. We decide how and what we want to do all the time.
But if we hear what the Bible says clearly after reading it for the last few years, the message is clear… instead of trying and figure out what we want to do, we should ask God “What do you want me to do?”
Hosea’s life was one that obeyed God and he did exactly what God wanted him to do, even though it did not make any sense – even for the most God-fearing person.
It may not be where the world tells us we need to be, and it may not be an easy life. But following God’s way is always ultimately the best way.
As we reflect on the year that is almost over, we should consider…
Are we doing our own things like what the Israelites were? Or are we following God’s plan?
Do we know we have a God but act like the rest of the people of the world, pursuing idols and false hope?
God is calling us to turn back. Confess our sins and follow Him again.
What are lacking in this year? Prayers? Bible reading? Service attendance? Doing work for God? Preaching? Your list may not be as long as mine but let’s heed the words of verse 9…
Who is wise? Who is prudent?
Let us understand and know these things.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5, NIV)
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Camelinaneedle
2 Timothy 2 : 3
“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”
This verse has never failed to reconnect my head to my body whenever I feel drained from serving God and completely exhausted from a day’s worth of work and activities.
I understand how difficult things can get just trying to pick yourself up to stand up and literally take the first step. I really understand.
Most of the time, this thought of pushing matters aside and leaving them for tomorrow, because we simply assume that there always will be a tomorrow, pops up in our heads the moment we know we’ve got major and urgent things to accomplish. Nowadays, this thought is commonly referred to as “procrastination”. We simply are too weak, fragile and limited to be able to generate that extra drive in us to get things done the moment they should’ve been done.
However, because we are Christians in this True Church, we automatically have been given responsibilities and expectations to live up to, and should automatically be as willing to take them on.
There must be sacrifices made and prices to pay. That’s just how life is, really. Salvation is easy, because it is personal and stems from the heart, but at the same time, it is just as difficult as it is easy, or even more so, because we have to work to get to that personal level or standard.
There isn’t much I can say to motivate, inspire or dare people to move if they’ve already stepped on the breaks.
The church and all the believers in it can encourage, exalt and comfort, but at the end of the day, only you are accountable to God.
We really have to grit our teeth as hard as we can, and bear with this “physical (and sometimes mental) pain” while we’re still alive and kicking, and work towards the day when Christ comes again.
A church sister once told me that it really doesn’t matter what tasks you have been specifically assigned to do, in church. You just need to commit to doing those tasks even if you think you aren’t completely ready or capable.
Everything sums up to serving God.
There are roles and a proper organization of members of the church, but that doesn’t mean that people without roles or people not in that organization can sit back and relax and enjoy the benefits of being a Christian without making their own moves, or are not allowed to contribute, even in the smallest ways, because there will always be work to do.
With a New Year, always comes New Year’s Resolutions.
I never really had the courage to make them, because I’d know that I’d definitely fall short by the next month or two. Sometimes I would make them just because it was nice letting myself live in this temporary psychological bubble of endless possibilities where all the resolutions I made, whether realistic or not, were fulfilled.
As of now, I have made one resolution- to be a suitable Blood Donor, even though completely out of the context of Salvation and Christianity. I have been very honest with myself and I am determined to make it happen.
The other resolution that hasn’t changed for the past 4 years- to continue reaching out to people not in church and bring them into the church. To be able to do that successfully, by the Will of God, even for one person, truly is a blessing.
If you want to make resolutions because you need goals to work towards to make yourself productive, make resolutions that are personal to you and affect your life one way or another if you don’t accomplish them, so you’d know that you’d end up suffering the dire consequences if you didn’t make any moves.
With a New Year, also always comes Reflections on the past year.
Even though everyone may tell you not to look back and “Keep Moving Forward”, remember that history was once the present and the future. There really is no use in the continuation of learning to live if history hadn’t happened and didn’t teach you exactly how to do just that.
Job 8 : 8 – 10 and Romans 15 : 4
“For inquire, please, of the former age, and consider the things discovered by their fathers; for we were born yesterday, and know nothing, because our days on earth are a shadow. Will they not teach you and tell you, and utter words from their heart?”
“For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”