SR • February 2016
21
The Heart of God
God called one of his prophets, a man named Hosea, to walk
an incredibly painful path. He was to marry a “promiscuous
woman” knowing this would subject him to adultery. He had
children with her. Over and over again, she betrayed their
marriage covenant. She was sexually unfaithful, both in heart
and in action. Hosea, again and again, sought to restore her.
And God said it was His broken heart for His people. We have
seen the wreckage in the wake of adultery, in the lives of our
friends and families, and maybe in our lives. We have seen the
cancer of adultery of the heart eating away at relationships,
eating away at promise, eating away at faithfulness.
And we have all fallen short of the
absolute faithfulness
Jesus
calls us to.
Maybe, just maybe, we have seen the heart of God, broken
for you and me, desiring a covenant with us of
absolute
faithfulness
— that we might truly love Him and be for Him.
Through Hosea, speaking of His people, God says this:
Hosea 2:16-20
16
“In that day,” declares the Lord,
“you will call me ‘my husband’;
you will no longer call me ‘my master.’
17
I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;
no longer will their names be invoked.
18
In that day I will make a covenant for them
with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the creatures that move along the ground.
Bow and sword and battle
I will abolish from the land,
so that all may lie down in safety.
19
I will betroth you to me forever;
I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,
in love and compassion.
20
I will betroth you in faithfulness,
and you will acknowledge the Lord.”
And “that day” is the Day of our Lord Jesus: Who picks us up
out of adultery; cleanses us from all unrighteousness; cleanses
our hearts from lust and idolatry alike. Our sinful nature was
crucified with him. And he calls us to...and creates within us
absolute faithfulness
— to our spouse, to our God.
See Him, on His knees with the ring out, asking us, all of us, to
be the Bride of Christ, to be
absolutely faithful
to Him. This is
what love requires. We practice that in our marriages. That is
our life forever.
God, prepare our hearts now to be clean, to be faithful,
to be Yours.
SR
in the circumstances that are intended to refine us like
silver in a furnace.
If we read through the ninth chapter of Luke, we see
the first disciples being prepared for ministry by going
out with little provision, hearing the discouraging news
of John the Baptist’s death, and being mobbed by
needy people looking for provision for faith and food.
At what must have been their breaking point physically,
spiritually, and emotionally, Jesus tears loaves and fish
fit for one poor boy’s lunch. He makes enough to feed
thousands with a remaining basket for each disciple.
The point seems to be that we can expect to be called
upon to give more than we can endure on our own.
Only through God’s provision can we expect to see
people and circumstances in this world reflect our
King’s sovereignty. Soon after this account in Luke, we
find Jesus telling His disciples,
“If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross
daily.”
With the help of the Holy Spirit, we each have to
learn for ourselves the painful lessons of the cross if we
are to grow in likeness and relationship with the One
who bore the cross for us all.
Top Ten Words
continued from page 14
SR
