What speaks to me this morning is this passage in Hosea: "when Israel was a child I loved him as a son and brought him out of Egypt. ...I trained him from infancy, I taught him to walk, I held him in my arms. But he doesn't know or even care that it was I who raised him. ...oh how can I give you up, my Ephraim? How can I let you go? How can I forsake you...? My heart cries out within me; how I long to help you! No, I will not punish you as much as my fierce anger tells me to. .. For I am God and not man; I am the Holy One living among you, and I did not come to destroy."
God is both so much like an earthly father and so much different. It comforts me to know that God loves me like a father loves his child here on earth, but so much more. He holds me in his arms, and does not give up on me! He is distressed when we go astray, and longs to help us! He does not judge us based on his anger! I love this: "for I am God and not man". Hallelujah! Good to know, to remember, that we have a mighty father who can control his anger and wants to help us out of the mess that we got ourselves into.
Thank you!
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