Knowing God

They have exchanged the glory of God for the shame of idols

Hosea 4:7

Sometimes when I read the bible, I am overwhelmed by God's love for me, and I can just bask in the love of my Father. Other times, and more frequently lately, I read and I feel a warning stirring up in my heart. I have been reading Hosea, and I think the parallels between Israel and God in Hosea, are eerily similar to the world today. 

You make vows and break them;

you kill and steal and commit adultery

There is violence everywhere-

one murder after another

That is why your land is is mourning

and everyone is wasting away. 

Even the wild animals, 

the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea are disappearing.

Hosea 4:2

When I was younger, I was always taught that all I had to do was ask Jesus into my heart, and I would get into Heaven. Lately, though, I have begun to think, isn't there more to it than that? Yes, Jesus is in my heart, but just like any relationship, my relationship with the Lord needs constant attention. My heart needs constant examination, and my life constant reevaluation. I am far from perfect, and the only way that I am going to make it in this life is to FIGHT for Jesus. 

I love a good spiritual high as much as the next person, but in the same way that I have ups and downs in the relationship with my husband, I also have ups and downs in my relationship with the Lord. However, I have found that when I am in a spiritual "slump" it is my job to SEARCH earnestly for God. I have to push farther every time to find Him. And each time I find Him, I am overwhelmed by His beauty and His Majesty. 

Lately, however, in my quest for Him, I have been learning that my God is a jealous God. He is full of righteous anger. These verses might sound a little harsh at first, but as I read deeper I feel like the Lords raw emotion is displayed in the words:

Come, let us return to the Lord.

He has torn us to pieces;

now He will heal us.

He has injured us;

now He will bandage our wounds.

In just a SHORT time He will restore us, 

so that we may live in His presence.

Oh that we might know the Lord!

Let us press on to know Him!

He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of the dawn

or the coming rains of the early spring

"Oh, Judah, oh Israel, what should I do with you?" asks the Lord

"For your love vanishes in the morning mist

and disappears like dew in the sunlight.

I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces-

to slaughter you with My words,

with judgements as inescapable as light.

I want you to show love,

not offer sacrifices.

I want you to know me,

more than I want burnt offerings"

Hosea 6:1-6

Often in my life when the Lord reveals something I need to change, it is PAINFUL and it does feel like I am being torn apart. But what the Lord tears apart, he will most certainly put back together. It will most definitely be restored to a finer version of what it was before. So when the Lord "tears me to pieces" he is preparing me for a day when I will live in His presence. My heart is telling me that that day is closer than ever.