Hosea 11:7-8 - “My people are determined to turn from me. Even though they call me God Most High, I will by no means exalt them. “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboyim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.”

Aren’t you glad God does not treat us as our sin deserves? God chose you and loves you. This love story is your story. Even if you are faithless, he will remain faithful.

If you are enslaved, God will buy you back. If you are lost, God will find you. If you are ashamed, God will cover you. If you wander off, God will bring you home. If you give up on Him, God will not give up on you. No matter where you are, God sees who you are, and he loves you.

Through the story of Hosea, God tenderly touches your arm and whispers, “Come home. My love sets you free. Even when you are striving and wandering, I’ll be there to draw you to myself again and remind you who you are in Christ.”

That’s the message of the whole Bible, isn’t it? At a manger in Bethlehem, God entered the slave market where all of us were putting ourselves up for auction, prostituting ourselves and our humanity to a lesser life. But on the cross, Jesus paid the full price for our freedom. He bought us back. This is the scandal of God’s love - his loving desire to make us his people and the full persons he intended us to be.
(Taken from Jennifer Rothschild, The Incredible Scandal of God’s Perfect Love.”

Today let’s thank our heavenly Father for his heart of compassion that won’t give us up or hand us over, but brings us home. Let’s pray for ourselves and our churches for his unfailing compassion that preserves, heals and saves. Share this with someone(s) today as his Spirit leads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMT5XqEq_c4

-AP