Moment in the Word

Hosea 2:14 - But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there.

The proverbial "Marriage Made in Heaven" is a total fallacy!

There is absolutely nothing easy or magical about marriage, but must require honoring the words of our solemn oath with a relentless commitment to forgiveness and dedication ... for better or worse till death do we part.

Take for example God's command for His prophet Hosea to go marry the prostitute Gomer to illustrate the Almighty's unending love and devotion for Israel.

Just as God's heart was repeatedly broken by the actions of His people, so was Hosea's heart broken by his wayward wife, even from the very beginning of their marriage.

Does God ever cast us off or divorce us for our repeated transgressions against Heaven? God help us, NO!

In the Book of Isaiah, God asked His beloved children who repeatedly broke His heart, "Was your mother sent away because I divorced her? Did I sell you as slaves to my creditors?"

And the answer was a resounding "NO!" God does not do that to us, even when we are wrong!!!

Consequently, the Almighty did not allow the prophet Hosea to throw his wife Gomer under the bus or kick her to the curb. In fact, when Gomer had sold herself to a pimp, her husband went and bought her back to take home and save their marriage.

That's the kind of love that enduring marriages are built on ... whether or not our steadfast devotion makes sense according to the secular world's cheap fickle paradigm.

The most beautiful words in the entire Bible about God's endless unfailing love for us are written by Hosea for his imperfect wife...

"But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt. When that day comes, says the LORD, you will call me 'my husband' instead of 'my master.'" (Hosea 2:14-16)

Hosea's greatest desire was to be accepted as Gomer's loving husband, not her brutish boss. God wants us to intimately love Him the very same way ... because that's the way He has always loved us, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you to Myself with unfailing kindness." (Jeremiah 31:3)