Hosea 2:23 “I will plant her for myself in the land;I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’ ;and they will say, ‘You are my God.'”

The story of Hosea and his wife Gomer is one of the most touching in the Bible, and is a striking picture of God’s love for His people, who have a a nasty habit of being unfaithful to Him. This of course applies to the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but it also applies to all mankind, for we were all created to love and be faithful to Him. The story as a whole is about a terribly unbalanced love, of a man for a woman who literally prostituted herself. It would seem that she was sold on the physical pleasure of coitus without understanding the emotional and spiritual components of the act. On a physical level, she was like a sadly large number of men and an increasingly large number of women today. However, her husband pursued her for the emotional and spiritual connection, even after she had gotten herself into slavery. That’s how much God loves us! This picture of God’s love was exceeded only when Jesus Christ came as a human baby, to grow up in a human home and take the penalty for all of humanity’s sin on Himself on the cross. It is when we have a revelation of that love that we say indeed, “You are my God.”

After 45 years of marriage, the story of Hosea and Gomer is all the more striking to me. We’ve never been physically unfaithful to each other, but temptations have been there. It has been as we have grown in the spiritual component of marriage that we have been strengthened in every other area as well. I try to communicate that factor to couples I counsel, but the vast majority aren’t Christians and so have no framework for really grasping it. I’m not to give up, but keep expressing and demonstrating this truth to all who will receive it. More broadly, I need and desire to express God’s love to all, so that they may grasp it, repent of their unbelief, and say in truth, “You are my God” to the One who died for them.

Father, You give me all sorts of opportunities to express Your truth. Thank You. Thank You for the service this morning, where I will be speaking on Repentance. I pray that it would be Your Word indeed, to penetrate hearts and minds and bring Your truth. Thank You for the “demonstration wedding” I’ll be doing this afternoon, where most if not all of those present will not be Christians. May my words – Your words through me – penetrate their hearts and minds as well, to set them free from the traps of the devil and draw them into Your family, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!