I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. Later this month it will be my wife’s and my 16th anniversary. To celebrate this event I have decided to wish my wife Happy Anniversary for 16 days.
Thank you for being my wife.
Today, I am reading and commenting on Hosea 8-14.
How often are we guilty of being like Israel as described here by Hosea? Do we cry out to God, claiming to acknowledge Him, while at the same time rejecting what is good? Have we been unfaithful to God? Let us examine our lives. When we give to the Lord, either through our actions or our materials possessions, are we truly giving to the Lord, or are we doing it for our own pleasure or satisfaction?
As I read this, I am struck by the aptness of chapter 10 verse 13 and 14:
But you have cultivated wickedness
and harvested a thriving crop of sins.
You have eaten the fruit of lies—
trusting in your military might,
believing that great armies
could make your nation safe.
Now the terrors of war
will rise among your people.
When you consider the things which happened this past weekend and previously. When I look at the arguments in our country, I see many who claim to be Christians raising a furor at those who refuse to worship their idols of the National Anthem and the flag. I will not defend the protesters, since they seem to be caught up in their own idolatry, but they, also, do not claim to be doing so in the name of Christ. Let us turn to the Lord and acknowledge that military might and gods made by human hands (whether they be flags or governments or songs) will not save us. If we repent of our sins and stop our idolatry, if we turn to worshiping and serving only God, He will heal us and answer our prayers.