Walking the Way: A daily devotional

  Hosea 12:6 But you must return to your God. Maintain love and justice, and always put your hope in God.   Thought for the day – What God wants of us There is a wonderful image that has been created that shows the links between different Bible verses. Created by Chris Harrison and Pastor Christoph Romhild, it links every cross reference in the Bible. All 63779 of them. That’s a lot of cross references, but the one that stood out for me from today’s chapter was how similar today’s verse was to Michah 6:8 ‘Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.’ If we believe that God speaks to us through Scripture then to hear the same message a number of times, probably means we should pay attention. So what is God saying to us here. Firstly in the context of Hosea, it’s a message of how far they had slipped from how God wanted them to behave. This is what Micah...

  Hosea 11:3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the hand, but they never knew that I healed them.   Thought for the day – Father heart of God. Hosea is a hard book to read. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s hard. But as Biblical scholar Derek Kidner puts it Hosea ‘is one of the boldest … in exposing us to the mind and heart of God in human terms.’ And we see that in today’s chapter. We see God as a father teaching his children to walk, taking them by the hand as they grow up and then watching them walk away from him and forgetting who he was and what he had done for them. It is a heart-breaking image. And in our chapter today we see a tension between the image of God who is Almighty and image of a God who loves us like a gentle father. And if I’m honest, I’m not quite sure where to go with that. Maybe it’s one of the images we are just encouraged to sit with and wonder about. That’s not a cop out because it’s something we all struggle...

Hosea 10:12 Sow for yourselves righteousness;     reap steadfast love;     break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord,     that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.   Thought for the day – What God wants We used to live in Kent and across the road from our estate was an open field that lay fallow for a large part of the time we were there. It was peaceful and easy to walk on. And fallow ground feels restful, even a bit virtuous. Nothing's wrong, nothing's growing, nothing needs fixing. Almost sounds like some of our churches.   But that is not an image Hosea presents. Fallow ground isn't peaceful or restful ground, here it's hardened ground. It's the heart that has stopped expecting anything. And the prophet's word is blunt: break it up. Get the plough out. It's time. And ploughing is difficult. Ploughing tears things up and breaks things down. Nobody breaks up hard soil gently.   John Wesley was well ...

Hosea 9:14 Give them, O Lord—     what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb     and dry breasts.   Thought for the day – Barren Womb, Open Hands Today’s thought is a Deb takeover As a woman, as a mother this passage is a hard read. I remember, a few years after we had adopted my ex-sister-in-law gave me a very belated adoption congratulations card, and the only words she had written in it were the words from this verse. At the time I was furious. So furious that I ripped the card up. Because to be reminded that as a woman my body had failed me, even though we had children through adoption was more painful than I can put into words. I guess, contextually, the inability to have children way back when Hosea was writing was more significant than now, when women aren’t tied to being a mother and housewife. But it is still significant. Significant because family relationships today are still complicated - both joyful and hurtful. I...

 Hosea 8:7 For they sow the wind,     and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads;     it shall yield no meal; if it were to yield,     foreigners would devour it. Thought for the day – Reaping the whirlwind Yesterday we talked about how we all have some sort of oppositional defiance disorder. It’s called sin and the root of our spiritual ODD is our rebellion against God both in the Garden of Eden at the beginning and our ongoing rebellion is our sinful natures. And like all rebellions there are consequences. We sow the seeds and then wonder why we reap the whirlwind.  It’s almost as if we are too blind or unwilling to see the consequences of our actions. So, for instance, the church pastor that gets a little too close to their PA; or the Christian business owner that doesn’t keep to all the legislation; The church goer who is an absolute saint on Sunday but abuses their spouse during the week. All of these have consequences...

  Hosea 7:14 They do not cry to me from the heart,     but they wail upon their beds; they gash themselves for grain and wine;     they rebel against me.   Thought for the day – Exact opposite I love my kids. But every so often (read regularly) they drive me nuts. Like when I tell them to do things a certain way, and then they go and do it in whatever way they want. And when it all falls apart, they get upset because it ‘doesn’t work’ and ‘why is everything so hard.’ It’s as if they’re preprogrammed to do the exact opposite of what we want sometimes. And there’s a psychological term for this. It’s called ‘Oppositional Defiant Disorder’ or ODD.   Symptoms of ODD include: ·      Being unusually angry and irritable ·      Frequently losing their temper ·      Being easily annoyed ·      Arguing with authority figures ·    ...

Hosea 6:4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim?     What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist,     like the early dew that disappears. Thought for the day – Mist and dew I’m an early morning person. I regularly get up at 5 am and occasionally I go out and sit in the garden with a cup of coffee and just sit and enjoy the quiet before the chaos of the kids and ministry begin. But eventually the day comes round and life begins with all the busyness that it entails and that quiet In the mist and dew disappears like our verse this morning. In context our verse is about the superficiality of the worship of the Israelites. Hosea 6 has that profound verse ‘For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.’ About how going through the motions of worship isn’t enough, and the implication is that our shallow worship dissipates like dew and mist. But as I was thinking about the quiet of the mornin...

  Hosea 4:4 The Lord says, “Let no one accuse the people or reprimand them—my complaint is against you priests.   Thought for the day – Higher calling Today’s reading is God proclaiming judgement on the priests of Israel. And as a church minister that has some sort of priestly function it sits uncomfortably with me as I consider my own ministry in the light of the passage today. There can be no denying that those called to ministry face increased scrutiny in terms of their words, behaviours and attitudes. It’s not easy. But then being a Christian isn’t easy either.   For while I am an ordained minister, I firmly believe in the priesthood of all believers. As Peter say in 1 Peter 2, we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. We are all priests of God and we all subject to the highest calling. We are called to represent peopl...

  Hosea 3:3 I told her that for a long time she would have to wait for me without being a prostitute or committing adultery; and during this time I would wait for her. Thought for the day – Waiting Every so often I read a verse, and it just sits with me. I can’t explain it, and today’s verse just sat with me. I know it’s a metaphor for the people of Israel going through a period where they will have no kings. But in my head I have this image of God just sitting and waiting, while we just sit and wait. Or most likely sit and struggle with whatever we’re desperate not to do. And God is there sitting alongside us as we struggle with whatever it is God is called us to do or give up. It’s an image of someone who loves us enough to sit with us. Like the person supporting someone going through withdrawal. Holding their hair while they throw up or wiping their forehead as they sweat out their poison of choice. It’s an image of someone sitting in silence as the person they’re wi...

Hosea 2:17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;     no longer will their names be invoked. Thought for the day – Sanctification Hosea is not an easy read. God uses some very heavy imagery in the book. Hosea is told to marry Gomer, a promiscuous woman. It an image of how unfaithful the Kingdom of Israel was. Their children are called Jezreel, Not Loved, and Not my people. Jezreel because God would soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel. Not Loved and Not my people, I think are self explanatory and describe the punishment God was to bring on the people of Israel.  Lovely. But then in Chapter 2 we see something different. We see God calling the people something else: ‘My people’ and ‘My loved one’. It’s as if God has changed his mind and has wooed the people of Israel back to him. They have been sanctified. They have been redeemed. And for me this is a really hopeful message that no matter how far we have strayed from God we can a...

Hosea 1:2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” Thought for the day – Welcome to the Minors Well, yesterday we finished the Major prophets of the Old Testament. Today we start the Minor prophets. Minor prophets (Hosea through Malachi — twelve books) are "minor" purely in terms of length. Obadiah is one chapter. Most run 3–14 chapters. In the Hebrew canon they were traditionally copied onto a single scroll and referred to collectively as "The Twelve," precisely because individually they were short enough that they might otherwise get lost or damaged. It’s also a Christian term. Not something Jewish folk would understand. And "Minor" is a genuinely unfortunate label if it's misheard as "less important." Amos on justice, Hosea on covenant love, Micah's "act justly, love me...

Daniel 12:13 As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance Thought for the day – Coming home If yesterday's verse about wise people suffering for their wisdom was a fun , perky way to start the day, then today's verse is, I think , probably a much nicer way to start our day . Today, we come to the end of the book of Daniel . It is the last of the five major prophets, and I think that, of all of them , it has the best ending — one that brings hope to us , the people of God . The Son of Man says to Daniel at the end of Daniel 12, “ As for you , go your way till the end . You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance .” What a promise ! And I don't think it's just a promise aimed at Daniel ; I think it's a promise aimed at anyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus : “ As for you , go your way till the e...