Advent Conspiracy Devotional: Thursday, December 23rd

Scripture: Hosea 3:1
The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”

Scripture:  In our everyday interaction with others we often give or receive love based on how we have treated the other person. 

            It maybe subconscious, it may simply be practical, but we often base how we treat others based on how they first treated us.  This may be the ‘natural’ or common sense way to view how to share our love with others.  But this is not how God loves us. 

            Through the prophet Hosea’s life God demonstrates the love he has for us – a love that is faithful, not because of our faithfulness but in spite of our infidelity.

            God does not give us love, salvation and blessing only when we are faithful in loving and following him, but rather in spite of our continued unfaithfulness and disobedience, God continues to love us with fidelity and persistence.  God’s love is not a response to our actions of faithfulness, but rather a reaching out into our struggle and faithlessness to call us into a loving, faithful relationship with God

Question: What ‘gods’ do you struggle to leave behind?