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July 24, 2018

Hosea 14:1-3

Return, Israel, to the Lord your God.
    Your sins have been your downfall!
Take words with you
    and return to the Lord.
Say to him:
    “Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
    that we may offer the fruit of our lips.
Assyria cannot save us;
    we will not mount warhorses.
We will never again say ‘Our gods’
    to what our own hands have made,
    for in you the fatherless find compassion.”

New International Version (NIV)

                 Can you say it? “I apologize” may be one of the most difficult sentences in any language. When we have really made a mistake, it is hard to know how to start the sentence. How can we be sure that our apology will be heard or accepted if we do offer it?

                After all of Israel’s sins, they faced sure judgment. Happy in their idolatry, the Israelites showed no signs of turning back to God. “We have no King! For we do not fear the Lord,” some said (10:3). They were headed to exile precisely because they “refused to repent” (11:5). Pleading their own wealth and self-sufficiency they didn’t believe they would be punished (12:8).

                God’s love sometimes surprises us. Spurgeon wrote, “Behold the judge, instead of putting on the black cap to pronounce doom of death, stretches out his hands to the condemned and in tones of pity, cries, “Israel return.” But how? How can we come back to God after failing him so severely and so often? “Use your words of repentance,” God instructs. When we forsake our self-sufficiency we discover God’s remarkable promises of grace. He will heal and love and prosper his people.

               “I will arise and go to my father!” Like the prodigal son of Jesus’ parable, we could come back home again, if we would. “Time after time, he has waited before, and now he is waiting again.” Come home.

Pray with me:

Father, thank you for your gracious offer of forgiveness. Even more, we thank you for procuring our pardon through Christ’s death on the cross. Forgive our stammering, stumbling, mumbling excuses. You are our only hope. So we come home to you, not because we deserve your forgiveness but because we need it and you offer it. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

This year we focus our Every Day with Jesus readings on Jesus’ story. With references to Tallowood's Read Through the Bible in 2018 daily reading plan, let's focus our undivided attention on Jesus and follow where he lead. He will not fail. Neither will we!
Joyfully,
Duane

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