Hosea 1:2 says this, “When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.”... What did the scripture just say to me! This land is like an adulterous wife?!?! These are strong and painful words that point us straight to examine our hearts and come face to face with our own short fallings and sin. In the Book Christmas is not your Birthday Mike Slaughter says this,
“From a human Perspective, we can equate God’s relationship with the Israelites to the sacred trust commitment made and then broken in marriage. That is why Hosea denounced Israel’s behavior as the worst kind of infidelity and compared it to prostitution. Later Jesus made a similar reference when speaking about the struggle between Materialism and our faith by saying, “You can't have two lovers! You will always favor one over the other. God was saying that “cheating” on him was akin to killing the relationship.” (P.42)
It is our sinful nature that seems to tear apart our relationship with God and other humans. It is our dark, gross, ugly and downright wrong sins that make us separate from others. But here is the Good News, God's love and grace is far greater than our sins. This does not mean we should sin more because God forgives but yet we should lean into the Grace given through a little baby born in a manger. God's love for us is so radical, so life changing, and as Mike Slaughter would say, so “Scandalous” that He sent his one and only Son to earth to save us. In this season of advent my we turn our hearts away from our sin and toward the Manger where Grace abounds, and the Saviour of the world is born!
Agape
Pastor Connor Morrison