Sin involves either consciously or unconsciously walking away from friendship with God and His plan for our lives. Repentance occurs when an individual stops, turns around, grasps God’s hand, and lets Him direct our life.
Repentance involves our confession of trust in God, maintaining the right attitudes, and performing appropriate actions.
Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
Take words with you
and return to the Lord;
say to him,
“Take away all guilt;
accept that which is good,
and we will offer
the fruit of our lips.
Assyria shall not save us;
we will not ride upon horses;
we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
In you the orphan finds mercy.” (Hosea 14.1-3)
The words people speak to God are significant. We seek His forgiveness for our guilt and offer Him the praise He deserves. We also repent for relying on unprofitable alliances and for making self-sufficiency an idol.
True repentance is shown in the care for society’s most vulnerable, especially orphans. Traditionally, orphans, immigrants, and widows are considered the most in need of support.
This care for the vulnerable is an integral part of the attitudes and actions of repentance.
God’s Response
Like the Prodigal Son of Luke 15, we can expect a warm greeting from our Heavenly Father, when we come to ourselves and come home to Him.
I will heal their disloyalty;
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
They shall again live beneath my shadow;
they shall flourish as a garden;
they shall blossom like the vine;
their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon. (Hosea 14.4 and 7)
It is interesting to me that God will heal our disloyalty. Walking away from God is a sickness that His love will heal and bring into health once again.
As we walk with Him, we will have the sense of living under the shadow of His love. Rather than having the heavy hand of God pressed upon us in judgment, we will be held in the hand of our loving Savior.
Hosea’s Last Word
Hosea concluded his message by urging his listeners to acquire the wisdom needed to understand his words throughout the book, to follow God’s path, and to stick to His guidance.
Those who are wise understand these things;
those who are discerning know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them. (Hosea 14.9)
Hosea’s message, written centuries ago, remains relevant today. Let us heed his call and follow his wisdom to find our way into the heart of God.
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross and I discuss this passage from Hosea on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 