Hmmmm....
Let's see....
God says in the Hosea passage that He will heal their waywardness...
I see in other versions of Scripture where the word used instead of waywardness is backsliding....
Another version uses the word "faithlessness"....
Truth is, all those different words have the same thought behind them...
A people who turned away from God to go do their own thing.
Waywardness, to me, depicts a direction that took Israel every where except the one direction they needed to go in. Sounds a little like the trip the Israelite's took when they marched out of Egypt a free people. They refused to obey God, so He jerked their GPS (God's Positioning System) and let them wander on an on an on and then when they couldn't wander any more....they wandered some more.
One of the versions of Scripture used the word "backsliding". In other words, falling back from your current position...losing ground....going backwards. Of course one has to realize that in order to backslide.....you must first front slide. Backsliding isn't something that happens outside of your own ability or strength. It is the result of taking your focus off of Jesus, and putting it squarely on yourself.
There is also a version that uses the word "Faithlessness".
Lack of faith...well, let me rephrase that. Scripture says that every person is given a measure of faith. So it's not the fact that you don't possess faith. It is the simple truth that said faith is never exercised in any way, shape, form or fashion. Faith is me placing my complete trust in God that He is who He claims to be, and will carry through with every promise He has spoken to those who do trust Him.
So with all this in mind, God is pretty up and into healing an saving people. What's my part in all of this?
An invitation....
An invitation to (as Hosea 14:1 puts it) Return O Israel to the Lord your God, for your sins have brought you down.
Sins have brought them down? How?
By their faithlessness
Their waywardness
Their back sliding....
These are the unholy 3 that we have to guard our hearts against.
Left alone, these 3 will be our undoing. The real problem is that these unholy three don't just show up and blast us off the path of following God. They slowly creep in and take over the heart and mind. One seemingly simple choice opens the door for them. That one choice leads to another......and another......and another wrong choice. Pretty soon, you've built a stronghold of reason as to why you should be in control of your own life. Before you know it........Blezbo!!! You're in the ditch calling out for help. Or in some cases, the bad choices continue to pile up until you die.
Aren't you glad that God knows our human condition, and how a heart that is sin-driven operates. Not only does He fully understand such, He has provided healing for all!!
Not that is good deal.
Think on this today...
God on you...
mbb
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