Today’s Thoughts – 27 January 2022
By T. S. Candee on January 27, 2022 in Hosea Thoughts
For she said, I will go after my lovers, That give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink. Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, And make a wall, that she shall not find her paths. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; And she shall seek them, but shall not find them: Then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; For then was it better with me than now. For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, And multiplied her silver and gold, Which they prepared for Baal. Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, And my wine in the season thereof, And will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.
“Sin will take you farther than you want to go.” You’ve likely heard that saying before because it’s a true saying. A person can be in the best place physically, emotionally, and spiritually. But when they concede to sin, it can ruin everything in their life.
Sometimes, we may think that this world will care for us and provide us with what we need. “I can achieve great things on my own” one might say. But this world is selfish and only thinks of itself.
The children of Israel were taking the provisions they had received from God and were giving them to their false gods. This is a demonstration of ingratitude.
Gomer did the same thing. She thought that her “lovers” would care for her. She left Hosea for them after he provided all her needs and some luxuries too. Hosea knew that he could help his wife by making her way to her “lovers” difficult so that she would come back to him and realize how ungrateful she was. After Gomer realized this, she tried to come back to Hosea.
God gives us the ability to earn money and gives us many blessings along the way. Let us be thankful for all that He has provided for us instead of using what He has blessed us with to get to the next step in this world.
There are at least 15 places in the Bible where we are commanded to be thankful or to give thanks. But, do we? Right now, we are experiencing enormous inflation, skyrocketing gas prices, and bread that costs twice as much as it used to. Instead of complaining about all this, we should be thankful that we have food, a house to live, sleep, and enjoy life in, and a car to get to our destinations. We ought to be thankful!
One of the first steps toward rebellion against God is a refusal to give God thanks for His mercies. God will not allow us to enjoy His gifts and at the same time ignore the Givers, for this is the essence of idolatry.