Don’t be that stupid, stubborn child
who doesn’t listen when they know they are doing wrong…
1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. 2 But the more they were called, the more they went away from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images. 3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. 4 I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them. 5 “Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent? 6 A sword will flash in their cities; it will devour their false prophets and put an end to their plans. 7 My people are determined to turn from me. Even though they call me God Most High, I will by no means exalt them. Hosea 11:1-7
disclaimer, i am only speaking based on my life and experiencse and may be wrong in my generalization of others.
these verses remind me of my middle and high school years - even though i was taught what was right, loved unbelievably by my mom, provided with clothes and food - i was a rascal, a very terrible son. instead of loving my mom back, i made her life miserable, going against all the good that she helped instill in me, doing a 180 with myself. instead of running back to what i knew to be true and right, i kept going on the path that led to destruction.
here the Lord reminds israel of what He had done for them, as i reference the same to what my mom had for me, all He was hoping to hear and see is them turning from their disobedience. while God continued to love His people, He simply cannot stand by and pretend all the bad that was being done was acceptable and can be ignored. in verse 7: I will not exalt them - what parent doesn’t want to dote and showoff their child(ren). for me, i know my mom was disappointed and also ashamed of my behavior and who i had become. pretty sure it hurt her more than i could ever imagine.
while i did change, it wasn’t overnight and it came during a time when i had lost my mom, was still deep in my sinful ways, and would not give up the life the world tells you to live. i feel we have to pay more attention to the little things before they become big. to recognize if what we are doing is not in alignment from the truth, i/we need to acknowledge, repent, and walk away from it then and there. even if what we feel isn’t a “big” deal, we need to confront those things and see if our actions, words, attitude, are inline with The Word of God. we need to always come back to our first love. if you aren’t sure what that is, it is actually who - God/Jesus.
thank you Father God for showing me my constant need for you. teach me/us to always return back to you. despite my faults and failures, you continue to ask me to follow you, trust, believe, and do what you commanded as a symbol of our love. teach us all to do just that. i love you, we love you, in your precious and boundless name, Jesus, we pray, amen!