LOVE is a ‘CONSCIOUS’ CHOICE!
September
15 Bible Reading: Hosea Chapters 1-3
LOVE is a ‘CONSCIOUS’ CHOICE!
Then
the Lord said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and
is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of
Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans."
So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half
homers of barley. And I said to her, "You shall stay with me many days;
you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man--so, too, will I be
toward you." (Hosea 3:1-3)
God
commanded Hosea to “go show [his] love” to
his unfaithful adulterous wife Gomer, and reclaim her even though she had
lapsed into the depths of moral depravity. Through this act, God was trying to
illustrate that Israel had been unfaithful like Gomer. Whereas Gomer’s sin was
sexual and highlighted her marital unfaithfulness, Israel’s sin was spiritual
and highlighted her adulterous behavior as she went after and worshipped false
gods instead of Jehovah who had redeemed her from Egypt. To picture the compassionate
heart of God and His faithful love for Israel, Hosea was asked to “love her as the Lord loves the Israelites.”
Popular
culture often describes love in terms of passion, sexuality, or blind devotion.
By this measure, love is little more than an uncontrollable attraction toward
another person that ebbs and flows unconsciously. This sort of “love” looks only for its own gain and
can walk away if its demands and needs go unmet or unsatisfied. In contrast, God’s love, as seen in
Hosea, is willing to go where others would not be willing to go and to pay what
others would not be willing to pay. God called the prophet Hosea to pursue a radical kind of love for his wife—a love that was based on a conscious choice
to be committed to her for her benefit, regardless of her response to that
gift. That was how God was committed to Israel. Hosea’s marriage was an
illustration of God’s marriage to the spiritually adulterous nation of Israel.
To
illustrate His intention to redeem Israel, the Lord instructed Hosea to reclaim
and redeem Gomer, his unfaithful wife, as she had become the property of
another man. Hosea’s purchase of Gomer symbolized God’s great devotion, which
moves Him to seek reconciliation even if it means subjecting Himself to
humiliation. This is pictured in God Himself redeeming us by paying the
ultimate price on the cross. "And
being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to
the point of death, even the death of the cross." (Phil. 2:8)
If anyone
had occasion to renounce his wife, Hosea did; however, he was instructed to
love her still, which was similar to how God continued to love an unfaithful
Israel. God’s apparently unreasonable request was patterned after His own
loyal, protective, and bountiful love for undeserving Israel, and by extension,
to us today.
Let us
understand that love is a conscious
choice! Let us intentionally make choices every day that reflect our love
for God in total obedience to His Word. When we return to our first love (God),
we can enjoy His intimate love in our lives; otherwise we will have to face the
dire consequence one day in the future.
