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The same road


 

Hosea 14:9
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
     whoever prudent, let him know them.
 For the ways of the Lord are right,
     and the just will walk in them;
     but the transgressors stumble in them.
 
Thought for the day – The same road
I love walking. But there's something I noticed on every single walk that I go on. I might enjoy the walk but the path that I'm walking on doesn't care about me. It's the same puddles, the same slopes, same stones. So, I walk along it not thinking about it and the next thing I've either stepped in a puddle, or I've turned my ankle over on a stone. And the reason why I'm talking about paths not caring and me walking on them is that because actually as we read Hosea's last chapter today and the very last words of Hosea, that's what we're dealing with, we're dealing with the ways of the Lord. And irrespective how we feel about them, the ways of the Lord are right. The just walk on them, the transgressors stumble on them. Same path, same road, just different travellers and different experiences of that road.
 
We're in the final chapter of Hosea, it's been 14 chapters of heartache and heartbreak and the interesting thing is, is that Hosea doesn't end with a threat, he ends with a question. The question is: are people wise enough to see this, because the road isn't the problem. God's ways aren't a trap for the unwary, they're a straight path. A path made for walking.
 
God's word is a gift to us. It's a means of grace. By that I mean it has the possibility of bringing us to the throne room of God for salvation. It's been described as a road, and that road is not our enemy. It is God's grace that goes before us, meets us, and walks with us all the days of our lives. And that's the hope. We don't stumble because the road is somehow cruel. Or unjust. We stumble when we insist on our own pace and we take our own shortcuts. The amazing news of Hosea is that even though we stumble, we are invited home. The chapter begins with ‘Return O Israel!’ When we fall over, we’re called to get back on the path and keep walking. So, ask yourself this question: where are you tripping at the moment? Could it be more about the way you're walking it then the path itself?


This blog post is part of the Walking the Way Podcast series. All views expressed in this essay are those of the author. This essay is freely available under Creative Commons License with Attribution-ShareAlike, allowing users to share it in other mediums/formats and adapt/translate the content as long as an attribution link, indication of changes, and the same Creative Commons License applies to that material.

This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

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