Steven A. Bush - June 28, 2020
Return to God!
Hosea 6:1-3 says: "Come, let us return to the LORD; for He has torn us, that He may heal us; He has struck us down, and He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live before Him. Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; His going out is sure as the dawn; He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth." (ESV) Hosea prophesied during Israel's darkest days. Israel worshiped Baal and other related pagan deities. Their worship included ritual prostitution, drunken orgies, incest, sex with animals, and human sacrifice which included babies! Even though Hosea points out Israel's heinous acts of idolatry and coming judgment, he still pleads with them to turn back to God. "Return" is Hosea's chief declaration. God was willing to pay the steepest of all ransoms to win back His children. And so He did. 1 Peter 1:18-19 reveals the payment: "For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God." (NLT) This is the same ransom He paid for you! So will you turn to Him? Or if you've left Him, abandoned Him, or gone astray, will you return to Him? Need a word from God today? Here it is: Return!