Hosea 13

Hosea continues his in your face approach to trying to get the truth to turn things around.  He describes the situation this way:  They are “back in the sin business again…..religion customized to taste…..anything you want in a god you can get”.  Do any of those words sound remotely like America today to you?  They do to me.  There are lots of “gods” available and certainly people get their “religion customized to their taste” at the many different churches (if you can call them that) that are available today.  Our nation has many of the same issues that the children of Israel had fallen prey to.  And I fear that the God we serve is equally as unhappy with us as He was with them.  How do we turn this around?  By living a steadfast life and teaching our children and everyone we touch about the God we serve.  We have to do it by living life boldly and openly.  We were not given “a spirit of timidity but of power, love and self control” is how scripture describes our heritage as Christ followers.  We will only change this world by taking our life and living it for God as we lead our companies, lead our families, lead people everywhere to be Christ followers.  Hosea makes this three step analysis of why this has happened.  Pay close attention to the progression he points out: “You were spoiled…thought you didn’t need me….forgot me”.  Here is the formula to falling away from God and running the other way.  We are all spoiled by a God who loves us and gives us far more than we deserve or should have.  When that happens we begin to believe we can do it on our own, we tend to become dependent on God only when we are beyond our own ability to control the situation.  And soon, we forget God completely and live life like it is all about us.  Here is the formula for disaster.  Here is the very reason why God tells us to talk about Him in the morning, through the day and before we go to bed.  We have to keep Him at the front of our mind.  We all are ADD when it comes to our relationship with God.  Some of us worse than others, but we all tend to forget Him far too much.  That is why journaling is so important.  We need to write down what God is up to and has done for us every day.  We need a record of His interaction in our lives.  God is alive and active and we must remember.  Then we need to teach our children and lead those who follow.  We don’t have to experience what Israel did here.  We can be different if we choose to.