Disregarded God's instruction
1. Unfaithfulness Makes Us Blind
But they do not realise that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me. Hosea 7:2 (NIV)
This is what God says about His people, whom He loves beyond measure. We see God's loving pursuit and His willingness to forgive again and again. Such love is found in God, who is love itself. Yet there comes a point when people become so deeply trapped in guilt and blindness that they are no longer able to receive this love.
2. Idolatry
Hosea says, "They continually devise new evils against Me. They turn to every possible helper—but not to Me!" Perhaps we, too, no longer recognize that we have mixed our modern idols with the faith we profess outwardly.
Seen in the light of Hosea, idolatry today is primarily a way of life that no longer seeks hope, security, and guidance in God, but in other things. The people turn to God, yet at the same time they live according to different standards (Hosea 7:14–16).
Idolatry does not begin only by bowing before a statue. It begins wherever something else takes first place in the heart.
Even today, there are believers who become blind to God's loving pursuit and blind to His voice. They neglect reading God's Word and stop gathering with fellow believers for worship.
3. Let Us Hold Firm to Hope and Fellowship
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrew 10:23-25 (NIV)
Christians are called to hold firmly and unwaveringly to their hope in Jesus. This hope is not based on human strength but on God's faithfulness.
This passage encourages us to remain steadfast in our faith, not to let go of our hope in Christ, and to strengthen one another within the Christian community.
4. Brief Summary
God taught His people and gave them strength, yet they continually devised new ways of doing evil. They turned to every possible helper instead of the true Helper—the living God and Jesus Christ.
I want to listen to the pain and the love of God and to Jesus Christ. Even today, I can receive forgiveness and turn back to my loving Father.
Author: Egon Waechter
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