Hosea 14:1-10
1 Return, Israel, to the LORD your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!
2 Take words with you
and return to the LORD.
Say to him:
“Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.
3 Assyria cannot save us;
we will not mount warhorses.
We will never again say ‘Our gods’
to what our own hands have made,
for in you the fatherless find compassion.”
4 “I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon
he will send down his roots;
6 his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
7 People will dwell again in his shade;
they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom like the vine—
Israel’s fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?
I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;
your fruitfulness comes from me.”
9 Who is wise? Let them realize these things.
Who is discerning? Let them understand.
The ways of the LORD are right;
the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.
1 Return, Israel, to the LORD your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!
2 Take words with you
and return to the LORD.
Say to him:
“Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.
3 Assyria cannot save us;
we will not mount warhorses.
We will never again say ‘Our gods’
to what our own hands have made,
for in you the fatherless find compassion.”
4 “I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon
he will send down his roots;
6 his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
7 People will dwell again in his shade;
they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom like the vine—
Israel’s fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?
I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;
your fruitfulness comes from me.”
9 Who is wise? Let them realize these things.
Who is discerning? Let them understand.
The ways of the LORD are right;
the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.
Father Jim was in charge of an orphanage. Father Jim was the most loving, caring man anyone who knew him had ever met. All the children in the orphanage loved him. Even after they’d grown up and left to establish homes of their own, they’d come back to visit him. The most wonderful thing about Father Jim was the ability he had for accepting in each child the very thing the child hated or most wished could be different about himself or herself. If a child had unruly hair, Father Jim made it seem like her hair was the most beautiful hair of 6all. If he had big feet, so that other kids teased him when he tried to run and got entangled in them, Father Jim praised those feet until they became objects of pride. After awhile, all the other children wanted big feet, too!
One day when Father Jim was in town shopping, a new child was brought to the orphanage. It was a little boy with a very ugly, very noticeable birthmark that covered half of his face. It was really quite a repelling sight. Apparently, the boy had developed a disposition to go along with the birthmark. He screamed and cursed at the social worker who brought him to the orphanage. All the children wondered how Father Jim was going to respond to this new kid! Surely, Father Jim had met his match! Surely, he wouldn’t be able to find anything good to praise in this boy.
That afternoon when Father Jim’s battered old van turned into the drive, the kids were all there to greet him. They wanted to observe his first encounter with this new child. He stood off by himself, defiant of everyone and everything. Father Jim got out of the van with his usual jovialness. There was shouting and hugging as he greeted each child. Then they all grew silent and stood aside as he noticed the new boy. “Hello and who is this?” said Father Jim. “It’s the new boy,” one of the children said. “Well, well, well,” said Father Jim as he approached the boy. The children stared wondering what Father Jim would do when he caught sight of that hideous birthmark. They never forgot what they saw next.
“Here we go,” said Father Jim merrily as he scooped up the boy. And then he planted a great big kiss right in the middle of that horrible birthmark. He hugged the boy tightly and set him down. The boy soon became a model child. The other children accepted his birthmark as if it were something special given by God. After all, Father Jim had kissed it and that made it beautiful.
God’s love is like that. Yes, it prompts certain things in you and me: an
awareness of sin, confessing and turning away from sin, and the confidence to
believe God’s grace is bigger than our sin. God’s love also provides certain
things to us. Full forgiveness. Full acceptance. Full abundance. God in His
grace even kisses the parts of you that you yourself despise. That’s what God’s love does to you and in you.
Prayer...
God of love, we give you thanks for loving us at all times, even when we seem unlovable. Teach us to love without expectation, and to care for those who do not care for us in return. Grant us courage to bear witness to your love in a world that does not readily receive it. Use us in transforming this world through your everlasting love. Amen.