Hosea 11:1-4 - “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more they were called, the more they went away from me. They sacrificed to the images of Baal and they burned incense to idols. It was I who taught Israel to walk,taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who liftsa little child to the cheek,and I bent down to feed them.”

Hosea shows us that God feels, that his heart can be broken and is broken, that he feels pain, the pain of a deserted parent. The story of God and his people is this story. This part of that story recounts God loving a child whom he has adopted. God rescues and delivers his son out of slavery. But this son rejects him and runs away from him. And the more God calls to him, the farther he runs.

In the time of Hosea, God’s people were not living as God’s people. The sacrifices were outwardly getting done, but they weren’t genuinely worshiping him. Idolatry was rampant, treating God like another Baal. They didn’t want to have and be in a real relationship with God, but rather chose (tragically) to worship “things” that are “easier” to deal with.

The story continues, recounting how God affectionately raised this son, teaching him to walk, taking him by his arms. We see the tenderness of God, his fatherly heart. The one who is like a parent who lifts their toddler up to their face, who stoops down to be closer to them, to heal to them, to feed them.

Today, let’s come to the one who relates to us and loves us like this. Let’s be excited and in awe of his (words can’t fully describe) heart for us. Let’s pray for ourselves and our churches, that our Father’s tender, sure love would keep breaking through in our lives and others’ lives we share with; that his fierce, pursuing love would even more bring his healing and rescue in our lives and others’ lives we share with, beyond what we can ask or imagine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRKrxxHpFYQ

-AP