Nobody Calls Anymore

12. December 2006 Hosea 0

Text: Hosea 6:8 – 7:7 Theme: Evil causes us to forget God Key verses: “Whenever I would heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed. They practice deceit…” (7:1) “but they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me.” (v. 2) “They delight the king with their wickedness…” (v. 3a) “All of them are hot as an oven; they devour their rulers. All their kings fall, and none of them calls on me.” (v. 7) What God said to me: Dwayne, that old saying, ‘Sin will take you farther than you want to go,’ is absolutely true. Sin will blind you from my light. Sin will numb you from my conviction. Sin will so enamor you with its attractive silvery lining that you no longer notice the dark, forboding cloud of my retribution. Sinful rebellion and deceit will cause you to forget that I remember, that I always see your sin before me. You will convince yourself that I don’t really notice or particularly care that you are breaking my commandments and treading over my son’s blood. Your sins will literally engulf you even as a slow rising tide engulfs sandcastles on the beach. Your world will end in ruin and your castles will all fade away. Sure, you’ll be “hot” for a while, maybe even burn throughout the night. But at the peak of your desire and denegration, your kings will fall. And yet you still won’t call…on me. Such is the legacy of sin. (Now do you see why I won’t tolerate even one in your life?) What I said to God: Your Holiness, Your majesty, I confess that I have sinned many times. I have willfully turned my back on you and your precepts. I acknowledge that, as your people, we have turned and gone our own way. We are deceived because we practice deceit. Please forgive us. Wake us from our sleep, O Lord! We know your number. Please help us call it by falling on our knees in repentance and fixing our gaze upward once again. Thank you for speaking so clearly and strongly to my soul today. Today may I resist temptation to sin against my God.