S. O. A. P.

Here’s Your 90 second AM Devotional!

S-cripture:

Hosea 2:14

Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.

O-bservation:

In His frustration and brokenness, and out of love for His people, the Lord said of His “whorish wife Israel,” I am going to allure her. I’m going to treat her as romantically as I possibly can, in order to win her back.

A-pplication:

The Book of Hosea casts Jehovah as the husband to His adulterous wife Israel. The Lord told His prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute named Gomer to illustrate Israel’s adulterous ways with her worship of other gods. As bad as Israel was, the Lord loved her anyway. Yes, He was angry. Yes, He was broken and at times He even sounded bitter in the earlier part of this chapter. Yet His unrelenting Love for His beloved would not allow Him to forsake her altogether. This story should be a comfort to all of us this AM. In our waywardness, and at times our outright rebellion, Jesus keeps wooing us. Jesus keeps alluring us. Jesus keeps romanticizing us. Because Jesus is … “Our Relentless Lover!” If you’ve ever given up on Him, He’ll NEVER give up on YOU!

P-rayer:

Dear Jesus,

This AM, I’m thinking of that song “Jesus Lover Of My Soul,” and I can’t stop recounting the many times You have reached to me when I was running from You. Those days are over. You won, I’m all yours. Amen