Karen Kingsbury is one of my favorite Christian romance writers.  Last year her work was introduced to me and I love the times I get to sit down and just read her love stories.  They always have a happy ending. They should be made into movies and run on the Hallmark Channel (just sayin’). The last one I read was actually a series about a young Christian girl, Bailey, who loves to act.  She actually wins a part in a movie and her costar, Brandon, is a playboy. Because of her influence he gives his life to Christ. His lifestyle completely changes, and he lives all out for Jesus. A period of time passes, and he falls in love with Bailey. He wants to marry her. Bailey does not make it easy for Brandon.  She is not sure that he is Mr. Right.  Through four books, he pursues her until finally she says yes. It took some serious convincing. Bailey kept turning to someone else she thought was the man of her dreams. She continued to believe that Brandon was not for her. She chased after “a better catch”. She wanted who was just out of her reach.  Someone she had on a pedestal.

The book of Hosea is a story about a man pursuing his bride. Before you get the warm fuzzies started, this is not a typical love story.  No fairy tale ending.  No Hallmark Movie made. Hosea is God’s man, His prophet. In a move that I can’t fathom, God instructs Hosea to go and marry Gomer, a well-known prostitute. When Gomer walked down the streets, the women in the village changed the sides of the road and shunned her.  Some glared at her as they passed by. Others gossiped and snickered. Men noticed Gomer and the provocative way she dressed. Some looked the other way when she walked by. Hoping against hope that their wives would not realize they had just been with her.  Imagine. This is the woman God told Hosea to marry. Hosea, God’s prophet. This book in the Old Testament has always bothered me.  Why did God do this? Why place a godly man in a relationship with such heart ache?

God uses marriage to show the type of relationship He wants to have with His people.  He did this in the New Testament too. Jesus is referred to as the bridegroom by his cousin, John (John 3).  Paul tells men to love their wives as Christ loved His church (Ephesians 5), and in Revelations 19, John celebrates Christ being married to His church. Why a marriage? Is it because of the love, concern, and care that husband and wife have for each other?  Is it because of their patience, forgiveness and devotion to each other? Yes. God wants that type of relationship with His people.  Hosea goes to extreme lengths to show Israel how much God loves them.  Hosea 1:2 “When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, ‘Go marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD.”

Israel left their holy relationship with God.  They have turned their love and devotion to God almighty and mixed it with other idols. That’s what Gomer did.  She married Hosea only to have her head turned and start looking for a better relationship.  She gave other men her innermost self. The part of her that should have been reserved for Hosea.  I’m sure that it all started very innocent.  She was determined to make her marriage with Hosea work. She promised that she would no longer flirt with the cute man he worked with.  She promised that she would not allow another man to come between them.  Then one day, a strong mysterious stranger came into town.  The way he handled himself was exotic, the way he looked at the world seemed ok.  It was different than the way Hosea thought, but it wouldn’t hurt to just explore his ideas. Right? She really didn’t mean to give herself completely to him and his ideas. BUT she did. AGAIN, and AGAIN.

Back to Israel. Jeroboam is the king. Israel was in a time of peace and was living the life of prosperity.  They started relying on self.  They did not pay attention to what was going on in their lives. One glance, one curious look at the exotic way of worship, one carless moment of giving in to the idea of an idol was ok to have in their home.  That was all they were doing. “Just this once” they thought they would try something new. The next thing they knew they had fully accepted the Canaanite religion and added idols and prostitution into their worship. Their priests did not follow God and did not encourage Israel to follow Him. In fact, they encouraged pagan worship.

BUT God was patient.  He wanted Israel to return to Him.  He was willing to pay a price for them to belong to onlyHim. In Hosea 3, Gomer had returned to her promiscuous ways.  She was back on the street seeking something that she was missing in her life.  She managed to get herself in so much trouble, that she became a slave.  Hosea had to search to find her, but when he did, and when he saw how broken she was, he bought her back. Only a husband that has a deep love for his wife and a heart willing to forgive could purchase her back. Only God who loves unconditionally can purchase Israel (and all humanity) back.  Only God who is Holy can forgive when mankind would say “Stone Her!” “Death to Gomer!” (Leviticus 20:10)

The analogy for us today is simple. What am I prostituting myself with? WAIT, WHAT? I don’t have idols.  If you can say that, then God bless you and keep on keepin’ on.  Me on the other hand, I struggle every day. It starts out simple. What’s the first thing I do in the morning? Get on my iPhone and check out Facebook (I even justify it by saying I’m looking to see who I need to pray for.) I get in the car to take a trip, I pull out my iPhone and start playing a game.  (I’m bored. It makes the trip go faster. See how smoothly I justified that one?) iPhone starts with the letter I for a reason…it’s about me, myself and I.

Another idol that zaps me – We get an invitation to a wedding. I can literally go to my closet that is FULL of clothes and shoes and decide I need the perfect dress (which of course needs shows that match) for the occasion (even though I have 3 or 4 that were “perfect” at other weddings). Pride becomes my idol because I needto be able to say that I fit in with those around me.

What about discontentment? It’s an idol that I definitely struggle with. The ridiculous thing about this idol is that I do it to myself.  The more I’m on social media, the more I see what others have and what trips they are taking. Guess what? The voices in my head say, “I need to go on that trip”. “I need the new car.” My discontentment takes over my thoughts and actions. The more discontent I am, the more things I purchase online. Each time I do that I get more emails that show up with the “one thing I need”to make me happy.  I don’t have to get up and walk away from the mirror to see someone that struggles with idols. It’s me!

Israel didn’t stop worshipping God. They just added other gods to their worship.  That looks way to familiar to me. When you read Hosea 2, God says He will punish Israel for chasing after her lovers. He will not share His throne.  He did not share it then and He will not share it now.  The question that should be asked every morning when I wake up is “who will sit on the throne today”? When the decision is made to keep God on His throne, I must live my life fully and completely in relationship with Him.

Be Blessed – Cherie