Let Us Earnestly Seek Him

Hosea 5:15-6:3, Isaiah 1:18, Isaiah 19:22

We have seen Israel's many sins utterly exposed. As you read Hosea, you see the severity that they find themselves in and the temptation is to think God has banished them from His presence forever. They think God will permanently and forever give them up and not allow them to return. Yet again, we see God’s mercy and patience as He says in Hosea 5:15 “I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me”. Though God would withdraw from them, He is still waiting and open to relationship with the people of Israel still. All God desires is that they would acknowledge their guilt and earnestly seek Him. Though our sins are many and you at times may feel too far gone, the truth is that if you acknowledge your guilt and seek God, He is waiting to receive you.

The response to this at the beginning of chapter 6 is a hopeful one as the people encourage each other to come and return to God. We see that God has torn and struck down Israel. We see this through the Lord’s indicting words, but also through events that led to destruction. The Lord never just strikes and tears though. His response and His purpose is to always heal and bind up wounds. The Lord's heart is not to hurt us but to heal us by bringing us back to Him. In the midst of our lives we are often brought into difficult seasons and circumstances either because of the consequences of our sin, or because the Lord is refining us. We must always remember that in those hard seasons that God breaks to heal. Is there a moment in your life you can look back and see God taking you through a hard season, even wounding you, that He used to heal you?

If we return to God we find that He will come to us. He won’t banish you, and tell you that there's no more chances and that this is it. If you will return to God, His coming to you is as sure as the dawn, as sure as the spring rains that water the earth (Hosea 6:3). As a matter of fact, God bids those caught in sin to come and reason with Him (Isaiah 1:18). Is there any sin and guilt that you need to acknowledge before God? Who and how can you seek the Lord with others around you?