A few weeks ago I wrote a little about Hosea and his marriage to Gomer. While including the little bit that I did, I realized that there was so much more to say on this beautiful book. It is laced with so much truth about undying love and redemption, and reminded me so much of so many people that I have met over the years and His great love for each of them. Ready? Here we go!
Hosea was a minor prophet who led and prophesied during a time of worldly wealth but spiritual darkness. When God spoke to Hosea, He told him to marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him. Not exactly what a guy wants to hear when choosing a wife, right? Most guys want a nice girl, someone they can take home to their family and begin their bright and merry future. But no, God says to Hosea to take an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness (Hosea 1:2). So ready, not only will his wife be unfaithful to him, but God all but promises that some of her children will be conceived by other men. So Hosea marries Gomer, and low and behold she is unfaithful again and again. However despite her unfaithfulness, Hosea forgave her and took her back time and again. But then there was the final blow, she ends up selling herself into slavery. Oh, how that must have grieved Hosea’s heart. I can almost feel the sorrow he must have felt, and also how lost she must have been to not know that there was someone who desired for her to return home.
Hosea’s love for Gomer comes at a cost
Then the unimaginable happens. God tells to Hosea to go and show love to his wife again as the He loves the Israelites (Hosea 3:1). So he goes, and since she sold herself into prostitution, he had to buy her back. His devotion to his wife and God, although painful, is inspiring. In asking Hosea to marry a woman who was adulterous and love her through that time, God was intending to use his personal relationship as a reflection to the people of Israel of His undying and redeeming love.
Just as Hosea’s love for Gomer came at a cost, so did God’s love for us. The price was paid in the ultimate act of sacrificial love when Jesus hung on the cross, as His blood poured out, and He declared It is finished.
This is the love that pursued me when I turned my back on Him. This is the love that stood there and revealed His love to me even as I was running from the life He had for me. This is the same love that broke my superficial facade of strength and fear to reach into the depths of my soul and rescue this beloved daughter. And beautiful one, this is the same undying love He has for you. His love isn’t dependent on what you have done. He loves you in-spite of what you do because that is who He is. This is the kind of love that brings life to what was dead. This is the kind of love that redeems. He knows the condition of your heart, and He knows that you feel like you have gone too far to come back to Him. He knows exactly how far you have run, and He stands waiting for you to run back into His arms so He can redeem you in His love. Run into His arms. They will not let you fall, because this is the undying love of my God, my Jesus.
