One of the many ways to describe being a parent is living in constant tension. The tension between rules and freedom, between chores and play, between rules and grace, between healthy food and treats … the list goes on. Until you’re a parent, you don’t fully understand the power of that tension. And at some point, you realize that tension will never go away, no matter how old your children are. It is a healthy tension that actually creates healthy relationships.
This earthly example gives us a picture (although imperfectly) of God’s relationship as a father with his children (Israel) in the Old Testament. Hosea is a book, like many of the other prophetical books, that captures the tension God himself lives with of “parenting” his people.
As a good and loving parent, God wants to give us the freedom to choose him, to choose love. At the same time, without consequences for our actions, we will never learn the need to repent and “come home” to our covenant relationship with him. Thus, the book of Hosea is filled with God’s heart, through the prophet Hosea, of the yearnings of God’s heart for Israel’s obedience, as well as the pain of the consequences of their actions.
We see this heart in Hosea 14:1-2: Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously …”
As much as we don’t like to live in tension, be grateful today that God is the perfect father. He won’t let us fall into the ditch of our own folly that would bring us to ruin, or the ditch of force and compliance, which would lead to no relationship at all. Rather, because of his love and desire for relationship, he chooses to live in the tension. Let us heed his call today and return to the Lord in our hearts once again.
Questions for reflection:
1. What are some ways you’ve been running away from God recently?
2. Similar to God’s people in Hosea, where is there distance between you and God? What caused it?
3. Do you struggle with knowing God is a God of justice and compassion? Have you seen examples in your life of learning from God’s justice or grace?