109 of 365 - For I Desire...

​For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6
 
The life of a prophet wasn’t an easy one as they spoke God’s truth and lived out His messages. Hosea can definitely vouch for this fact. God tells him to marry an unfaithful prostitute. Hosea knows she will betray his trust and break his heart, but he obeys God and marries Gomer. Hosea’s life becomes a metaphor for the relationship between God and the Israelites who, like Hosea’s wife, cheat, wander, seek worldly possessions, and rebel.
 
God wants the people to see how they are being spiritually unfaithful to Him; how they quickly turn their backs on God, chasing the pleasures of the world around them. Over and over again.
 
Even Hosea and Gomer’s three children, named by God, are part of the story…God will Punish, No Mercy, and Not My Children. The offspring of a broken relationship.
 
The Israelite people are going through the motions of following God – sacrifices, celebrations, rote prayers – but their heart is not in it. They check these things off their “religious” list and then going about their day following the false gods and idols of the culture around them. They have lost their love for God…the thing He desires most.
 
But through the faithfulness of Hosea to Gomer, despite her wandering and unfaithfulness, God wants them to see that He loves them so much and desires them to come back to Him. He will not abandon them, though they abandon Him. He keeps going after them. He desires to take care of them and live in a beautiful relationship with them if they will just come home.
 
Question: What do you think about how God is using the prophets and His people to tell His story?