Relentless

I was humbled this morning as I read the book of Hosea.  I was reminded once again that God is relentless.  As the Old Testament unfolds, so does a beautiful love story between God and His chosen people.  I always want to be careful to understand the context of the Old Testament before I apply it to my life but one thing is clear: God is relentless.  Here's what God said to His prophet Hosea:

"Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, 

for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD." 

Hosea 1:2

This idea was personified in the relationship between God's prophet Hosea and the whore named Gomer.  Israel had also committed whoredom by forsaking the Lord and seeking after other gods and pleasures.  As followers of Christ and members of his body, we are his bride and he is the groom (Rev. 19:7). 

An earthly spouse may deem whoredom as an unforgivable sin and may abandon the covenant made at the altar.  And I am not condoning or condemning divorce (because I believe every situation must examined separately).  With that said, I believe the Lord has many grounds for divorce in our relationship.  I am the unfaithful spouse that has repeatedly forsaken the Lord in moments where I am absorbed and consumed with self and yet one thing is clear: God is relentless.

Though the Lord would be justified to divorce me, He has obviously gone to great lengths to pursue me.  The cup of wrath was poured out on His son as Christ hung on the cross.  I'm a little offended when Christ's bride grows tired of hearing about this sacrifice or labels it as an elementary truth and desires to move on to deeper things.  There is no deeper truth or mystery in God's Word than His relentless love for His people.  This knowledge is not a license to whoredom but security that God will not forsake His bride.  He paid a high price for me.  God is relentless.

I could walk away from the Word and say, "this is nice" and go about life as normal.  But perhaps God has revealed His love for us that we may in turn love others.  It is easy to become bitter and to become self absorbed as result of the pain inflicted by others and difficult to forgive these offenses.  That is why it is important to remember verses like 1 John 3:16, "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers."  Therefore, I think the appropriate response is to continually pursue the world around us in love, beginning with our brothers and sisters in the Lord.  We will miss the mark many times before the last chapter of our lives is closed but we know that we will never be abandoned because our God is relentless.