Written by Stefan Johnsson
The Word
16 In that day—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you will call me “my husband”
and no longer call me “my Baal.”
17 For I will remove the names of the Baals
from her mouth;
they will no longer be remembered by their names.
18 On that day I will make a covenant for them
with the wild animals, the birds of the sky,
and the creatures that crawl on the ground.
I will shatter bow, sword,
and weapons of war in the land
and will enable the people to rest securely.
19 I will take you to be my wife forever.
I will take you to be my wife in righteousness,
justice, love, and compassion.
20 I will take you to be my wife in faithfulness,
and you will know the Lord.-Hosea 2:16-20
Reflection
God spoke through Hosea the prophet to show how He was faithful to the Israelites even when they worshipped the gods of the nations around them. They would turn to the Baals who required sacrifices of their newborn babies on altars, burning them alive – a great abomination in God’s eyes. No matter how many times that the Israelites committed sins and apostasy, God remained faithful and would bring them back. Even in this, in the midst of their sins and the consequences they were deserving of, God spoke of His love for them and His wish that they would know Him.
No matter how faithless we are, God remains faithful, because it is part of His very being. He cannot deny Himself and thus, no matter what we do, His promises and His faithfulness will always be bigger and better.
As Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:11-13:
11 This saying is trustworthy:
For if we died with him,
we will also live with him;
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he will also deny us;
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny himself.
Not only did God commit Himself to us for eternity because of His great love and mercy, but He also acted on this love through Jesus’ death on the cross. It is this new covenant which helps us and makes us right with God. God sees us as clean because of His Spirit living in us and the cleansing blood of Christ. We have become the true bride of Christ and His holy catholic church, and it is not because of something we have done or accomplished.
Though, there is something deeper within this that we have to remember; we are no different than the Israelites. Our hearts are continuously bent on evil. As Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is more deceitful than anything else,
and incurable—who can understand it?”
We are truly depraved. We wander away from God’s embrace to pursue our vices. We sacrifice our spouses to pursue our goals, and turn away from our kids to find happiness in our hobbies. We wander and stray with the multitude of passions and lusts that surround us instead of turning to God for our source of joy.
Where would we be today if God didn’t stop pursuing us? Where would we be without His faithfulness?
Application
Many people walk into marriage with the same mindset that they walk into a church; it’s only as good as what you get out of it. There is no true commitment, there is no pursuit of righteousness, and there is no acts of love through trials and temptations.
We live in a culture where we lust after everything else but God and a healthy marriage.
We think love has a closer meaning to passion than it does commitment.
We do not seek to be faithful in the midst of pain, suffering, and hardship.
We think that if we flee from trials that we become healthier.
Maybe, just maybe, you are unwilling to fight for what is good, to fight for the person next to you, and to fight for a better relationship with God.
Prayer
Dear Father in heaven, please help me to be committed to You and the relationships You have given me in this life. I want to be faithful and willing to fight for what is right and what is good. Do not let me falter. Keep me willing to seeking after You each day. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
City Life Starter 
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