The Adventure of a Lifetime

One Year Bible
Old Testament passage froSaturday, December 7, 2013:  Hosea 6:1-9:17

1 Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.   2  After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.  3  Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.  His going forth is established as the morning;  He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.  Hosea 6:1-3 (NKJV)

Through the years, Hosea 6:1-3 has meant a lot to me.  It is the picture of repentance and devotion.  This goes beyond the brusque, surface picture of a distant disciple.  It is the heart-cry of the follower. There is no smug self-confidence here.  Rather, there is the testimony of the tried and true.  After the Lord has "torn us", we find it in our heart to return to Him.

RETURN

The word "return" means you once were close but have drifted away.  Repentance is not a self-condemning decision to just "do right".  It is the determination to regain the intimacy once enjoyed.  Repentance is not primarily behavioral, but rather relational.

TORN US -- HEALS US 

There is a way of understanding God that says He would never bring discomfort to us.  He only brings blessing on top of blessing.  God -- good; devil -- bad.  By this view, God never reprimands us.  He only endorses us.

But Scripture is clear.  He tears us up BEFORE He heals us.  He knows everything about us (Hos. 5:3).  He turns the lights on to heal us, not to hurt us.  The very One Who tears us apart, is also the One Who repairs our injury.

KNOW

The objective of redemption is not righteousness, or holiness, or "the good life."  The objective is KNOWING GOD.  "Let us know."  That is the prize.  That is the goal.

The glory of our God supercedes all else.

Sin has no substance of itself.  It is the distraction from the prize.  All of history and human experience rotates around knowing God.  Sin is no more than the fool's gold that distracts us from the best.

Let us press on to know our Creator!

It's the journey of a life-time.  It's the greatest adventure of all.