i want to be faithful

Hosea 3

¹ The LORD said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes."² So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. ³ Then I told her, "You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live with you."

how many times are we to keep loving someone who doesn't love back? as i read this, i'm struck by the word "AGAIN." i think this is an incredible description of God's love toward us. He loves us again and again and again and again...of course this is God teaching man to honor his wife. but the comparison is clear that God does this with his people the same.

in verse 2 it describes to us hosea's payment for his wife. i know it's weird because it's not american currency. bottom line, it's a lot of money. love is not cheap and there will always be a price to keep it, bring it back, and if necessary redeem and restore it. again, God is the one who leads by example (matthew 27, mark 15, luke 24, john 19) as i glance over the cost of love, i can't but help stop and breathe deeply...because it hurts. to know that i have been the cause of such great pain. how many times has God told me "I'm your God, don't do that because it displeases me." or maybe "You are cheating on me with your time, your money, your resources, your life; stop it."

incredible that God would use hosea in such a way. we honor these men of the scripture, but this is one guy i would not want to be. i can't imagine the difficulty of raising a family without there mother because she's out prostituting herself. hosea is hardcore because he buys her back over and over again - because GOD tells him to.

i want that kind of obedience, i just don't want that kind of trial. i think it's part of the territory however.

i want to be faithful to my God.