RETURN AND REPENT

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In Christ, Mark

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

“Israel, return to Yahweh your God, for you have stumbled in your sin. Take words of repentance with you
and return to the Lord. Say to Him: ‘Forgive all our sin and accept what is good, so that we may repay You with praise from our lips. Assyria will not save us, we will not ride on horses, and we will no longer proclaim, “Our gods!” to the work of our hands. For the fatherless receives compassion in You.’”

Hosea 14:1-3 (HCSB)

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

Where are you in your relationship with the Lord today?

If you are fully engaged with Him, immersed in His word, engaged in prayer, and living in obedience to His will, word, and way, then continue to do what you’re doing. You are walking through your life in a way that is pleasing in His sight, a way that He favors and blesses.

Conversely, if you have been living separate from God, chasing after your own desires and the desires of the world, actions that will surely lead anyone into sin, then listen carefully because the Lord has a special message for you today:

“Return to Me and repent.”

You see, since the dawn of man into creation, we have seen man and woman falling away, choosing to fall into the temptation of disobedience and disrespect toward God. It started in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve and we have been sin-afflicted ever since. Certainly it was the case for the Israelites of Hosea’s time who had decided to abandon God for false gods and idols, willfully and willingly disregarding His commandment to have no other gods before Him. Look at these opening verses of this book’s final chapter and look for the Lord’s special message mentioned before:

“Israel, return to Yahweh your God, for you have stumbled in your sin. Take words of repentance with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him: ‘Forgive all our sin and accept what is good, so that we may repay You with praise from our lips. Assyria will not save us, we will not ride on horses, and we will no longer proclaim, “Our gods!” to the work of our hands. For the fatherless receives compassion in You.’”  Hosea 14:1-3 (HCSB)

Note here that God was not slamming the door shut on His people, despite the fact they had violated Him in the worst kind of way through their spiritual infidelity. Rather, he was beckoning for them to come back to Him through His prophet, Hosea. God acknowledged the obvious, that His people had stumbled in their sin, but His words to them were not words of condemnation. Rather, He offered the Israelites a path to return and reconcile with Him.

What was the pathway for returning to God?

It was all about repentance as the Hosea encouraged the Israelites to do the following:

“Take words of repentance with you and return to the Lord.”

This is the first step for anyone who has strayed away from God’s righteousness in their lives, falling into a life punctuated by wickedness instead. Turning back to the Lord first involves confessing our wrongs and then vowing to leave them behind, opting instead to live as the Lord desires. And just in case the Israelites had problems finding the words to say, we find Hosea helping them out with this suggestion:

“Say to Him: ‘Forgive all our sin and accept what is good, so that we may repay You with praise from our lips. Assyria will not save us, we will not ride on horses, and we will no longer proclaim, “Our gods!” to the work of our hands. For the fatherless receives compassion in You.’”

As we see in these verses, the Israelites were to seek God’s forgiveness for their sins, sins which included:

1. A reliance on other nations instead of God.

“Assyria will not save us, we will not ride on horses.”

Properly returning to God means one is placing their complete dependence on Him as their Rescue, a very present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). There’s no need to trust in anything or anyone else.

2. Worshiping false gods and idols.

“We will no longer proclaim, “Our gods!” to the work of our hands.”

The Israelites had fashioned their idols out of wood and metals, bowing down to them and giving them their full devotion. It’s the main reason God sent His judgment upon them, a seventy year exile where they would have time to consider their sins. Any sincere move toward reconciliation was going to have to be centered on giving up their pagan worship practices. In fact, any move toward returning to God through repentance requires a person be willing to turn away from their transgressions.

So what was the Israelites’ expected outcome from this confession of sins and getting right with God?

First, they expected to experience God’s compassion.

“For the fatherless receives compassion in You.”

Live apart from God and you are spiritually fatherless, an orphan within His creation. But when you choose to come to Him, then you find your Father and are ushered into a family of believers who are all children of God.

There’s no better family to be a part of.

Finally, the Israelites desired to come back to God to give Him their adoration

“Forgive all our sin and accept what is good, so that we may repay You with praise from our lips.”

The people of God were ready to return to Him and give Him all the worship they had directed to pagan gods and idols. They yearned to be forgiven and vowed to repay God with their praises in response to His compassion and move toward reconciliation.

Today, nothing has changed regarding God’s desire to have a steady, faithful relationship with His people. He never loses touch with us. We’re the ones who choose to detach from Him and fall into the sins that comes with that poor decision. The truth is that everyone will fail and fall at some time in their lives. We all can be guilty of losing touch with the God who is our Maker and Master.

This is why today’s message is so important for us because we’re reminded that God is always waiting and longing for us to return to Him, much like the father waits for his son to come home in Jesus’ parable of the lost son (Luke 15:11-32). He rejoices when anyone returns and repents, showing a sincere, heartfelt desire to renew their relationship with Him.

If you’re in that category today, counted among those considered “fatherless”, won’t you come back to the Lord today, leaving your wrongs in the past while seeking to be a new person in Him, allowing His will to be your own?

Come back to the Lord. Receive His forgiveness and experience His compassion. And become the person He designed and desires you to be.

It’s a decision you will never regret.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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