CHARGED

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land:

“There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Because of this the land dries up, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea are swept away.”

Hosea 4:1-3

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When someone does wrong today, we find someone bringing a charge of wrongdoing against them. We see it in any number of venues and situations.

Those charges could be for major offenses like murder, aggravated assault, arson, rape, or robbery. They may be for offenses that typically aren’t considered as significant but violate the morals of society like adultery, slander, fraud or any other number of inappropriate behaviors. Note where man has placed misdeeds on a severity scale but let not lose sight of one very important point:

God hates all sin, period.

It’s true, isn’t it?

God never gives someone a pass for a transgression. Not one. He despises even the slightest turn from His righteousness and the will and way He intends for His people.

If you wonder why this is, look to the cross and remember the imagery of Jesus, God’s only Son, nailed to it, suffering an agonizing, horrific death as He bore the sins of all mankind. He paid the penalty we deserved and as a result, God lost His cherished child, all because of sin.

As we look at today’s scripture passage from the opening verses of Hosea 4, we find God levying charges against the Israelites for the sins they had committed in His sight, and we know God sees everything. Look at the ways they had wronged here:

Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land:

“There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Because of this the land dries up, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea are swept away.”  Hosea 4:1-3

The list of charges against the people of God was extensive.

No faithfulness as they committed spiritual infidelity by worshiping false gods and idols, refusing to even acknowledge God in the land.

No love.

Cursing.

Lying.

Murder.

Stealing.

Adultery.

God goes onto add that the Israelites willingly and willfully chose to “break all bounds”, implying there was no restraint when it came to what they were willing to do in opposition to Him. Bloodshed was commonplace as the people of God lost a grip on the sanctity of human life, life granted by the very Creator God they sinned against.

Now ask yourself why God had to send His judgment. The Israelites left Him no other choice.

And this brings me to present times and a series of questions we had better ponder and ponder hard:

If the Lord were to assess our lives today, what would He say about us?

What would His charges be?

Would He refer to us as faithless, cursers, liars, murderers, thieves, or adulterers?

The answers to the questions should make all of us unsettled and uncomfortable. For if we’re really honest with ourselves, the sad truth of things is that we are still committing the same atrocities that the Old Testament Israelites committed more than 2,000 years ago. We are showing God by the way we live, that we’re more willing to repeat the mistakes of the past than learn from them.  

And as long as we keep doing that, God will continue to charge us for our sins and take appropriate action against us in judgment.

Rest assured of that.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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