Is This Me?

We find an interesting story in the book of Hosea. God has told the prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute named Gomer. At first glance, this doesn't sound anything at all like a story we would read about in the Bible. However, as we dig in we realize that the immediate application of this story is that the nation of Israel had become a spiritual prostitute. Gomer was gross, defiled, and unworthy but she was chosen based entirely on the nature of another. She proved herself unfaithful and disloyal even to Hosea, who's love she did not deserve. He in turn pursued her, paid the price for her release, so that she could be with him. Does that story sound familiar? For the time, this was a picture of God chasing after His chosen nation of Israel and for us today, we are Gomer and Jesus did this for us! God has pursued us and is even pursuing us now to draw us back to Himself. This is God's love story where He is the main character and we are the undeserving recipients. Let's fall in love with Him this holiday season rather than ourselves.