Reading: Hosea 1: 2-10

The story revealed in Hosea is our story too.  Israel has fallen away from God and has begun to turn to Baal worships and other things not of God.  Yet God does not give up and continues to call them back.  Because of His great love and unending forgiveness, God seeks to renew Israel to an intimate relationship as children of God.

In our Christian walk we too cycle through periods similar to where Israel is in our story today.  Our focus and attention is drawn to things other than God.  Maybe for a season it is our future spouse or our job or our new friends.  The desire for recognition or a promotion or a new car seems to supplant God as our priority.  A new idol has taken God’s place.  Yet God is still there, waiting for us to return to Him, nudging us with the Holy Spirit, whispering our name.  He does not give up.

Even after naming all of Hosea’s children with names that remind the people of their broken relationship with God and even after review how the people have failed to be faithful to God, He ends the passage by saying, “they will be called sons of the living God”.  In this we see that in spite of all they have done and in spite of His anger with them, deep inside God knows that they will always be His people.  Always.

We too may stumble.  We too may wander.  We too may sin.  But God continues and continues and continues to call to us.  As followers of Jesus Christ, we too have been marked as children of God.  He continues to call our name.  We give thanks that in His great love and mercy, God continues to call us home and into His arms of redemption and grace.  Thank you God.