No More Resisting God's Spirit And Rebelling Against God's Word ... Let Us Return To The Lord.

God sees us in our sin. He says, “You are not My people.” He sees us in our Saviour. He says, “You are the children of the living God” (Hosea 1:10). This is grace. This is salvation. This is the love of God. When this great truth reaches us, we are changed. What “a great day” it is when the Lord’s people, gathered together in the Name of the Lord, are led forward with God and by God into true and lasting spiritual growth and blessing.“I will make the Valley of Achor (Disaster) a door of hope” (Hosea 2:15). What a word of encouragement this is! Here’s another great word of encouragement: “Those who are not loved I will call My loved ones. Those who are not My people I will call My people.” The Lord has done great things for us. By His grace, we are able to say, “You are my God” (Hosea 2:23).

God says, “I will wait for you” (Hosea 3:3). The people were slow to respond to God’s love. God’s Word says, “They will come trembling to the Lord for His blessings in the last days” (Hosea 3:5). How wonderfully patient the Lord is! He doesn’t compel us to come to Him. He waits patiently, until we find it in our hearts to come and receive the new life which He, in love, is offering to us.

“The people of Israel are as stubborn as a bull” (Hosea 4:16). This is more than the story of Israel. It’s the story of every one of us. Resisting God’s Spirit and rebelling against God’s Word, we dig ourselves, more and more deeply, into a hole of our own making. It is a hole from which we cannot lift ourselves. We can only be saved by the Lord. The stubbornness must be taken out of our hearts. Love for Christ must be put into our hearts. It is His love which changes us. He breaks down our stubbornness. He builds in us a new and true love for Him.

Following many words about sin in Hosea 5, we have a call to “return to the Lord.” The people hear God’s call, and they say, “Let’s return to the Lord” (Hosea 6:1). This call to return to the Lord comes to us with the promise of His healing - “He will heal us” (Hosea 6:1), His revival - “He will revive us” (Hosea 6:2), and His life - “He will raise us so that we may live in His presence” (Hosea 6:2). We hear the bad news of our sin so that our hearts may be prepared by the Lord to receive the Good News of His great salvation. Once we have returned to the Lord, we are called to give ourselves to him in loyalty - “I want your loyalty, not your sacrifices” (Hosea 6:8).