YOU'RE MISSING SOMETHING

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In Christ, Mark

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

“Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us; He has injured us but He will bind up our wounds. After two days, He will revive us; on the third day, He will restore us, that we may live in His presence. Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge Him. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”

Hosea 6:1-3

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

We are all sinners. No one can debate this because God’s word affirms the statement:

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

So with this, why do we have such a hard time taking responsibility for our sinfulness?

Why is so hard for us to confess and repent?

I mean, we know God is a God of mercy and grace and forgiveness, a God who continuously reconciles Himself to His people. But we need to remember that before any of this happens, God expects us to admit our failing and falling, committing to turn away from our transgressions and toward His righteousness, before we receive His clemency.

As we turn to our scripture passage for today, drawn from the opening three verses of Hosea 6, we find the Israelites either forgetting or conveniently ignoring the need for contrition as a prerequisite for atonement and restoring oneself to a right relationship with God. Look again at these verses:

“Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us; He has injured us but He will bind up our wounds. After two days, He will revive us; on the third day, He will restore us, that we may live in His presence. Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge Him. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”  Hosea 6:1-3

On the surface, everything may appear like there was no problem here. The Israelites wanted to return to the Lord, acknowledging His judgment and its negative impact on them but they also proclaimed these truths about Him:

1. He was their Great Physician and Healer.

He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us; He has injured us but He will bind up our wounds.

2. He was their Reviver and Restorer.

He will revive us…He will restore us, that we may live in His presence.

3. He would appear to them.

Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge Him. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”

Yes, the Israelites had a lot of expectations as to what they thought God would do. But note one very important omission, one that might lead the Lord to respond to their words in these verses by simply saying:

“You’re missing something.”

What was missing?

Well, note that there wasn’t one instance when the Israelites confessed of their sins. Not one. They spoke about returning to the Lord but were they going to return the same people as they were before they sought His reconciliation? Were they committed at all to refraining from the same iniquities that got them in trouble with God in the first place?

There certainly wasn’t any indication that they were.

So how do you think God is going to respond to this? Will the Israelites find their expectations met by God or are they in for a rude awakening?

We’ll find the answer to these questions as we continue to look at Chapter 6 in tomorrow’s devotion. See you then.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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