Thought for April 8, 2024

• 1766: First fire escape patented--wicker basket on pulley and chain 
• 1974: Hank Aaron hits number 715
• Born: Ponce de Leon, Mary Pickford, Sonja Henie, Robin Wright
• Died: Elisha Otis, Pablo Picasso, Omar Bradley, Marian Anderson, Margaret Thatcher

Thought:

I am considering the minor prophets for my Sunday School class after we complete a study in James. Reading some of these prophets requires me to look at myself and our nation today. This morning I am reading Hosea chapter 4:1-10. God addresses the sons of Israel--could be written to us today. In the first 6 verses, Hosea gives us cause and effect. Things are not well with Israel, so what is the problem?

• There is no faithfulness, no kindness and no knowledge of God. [4:1] The effect--the land mourns, the people languish, and nature suffers. [4:3] I think about that first in my own life. If I am not faithful to the Lord, if I don't try my best to look like Him [His kind], and if I know about God but have no real knowledge of God, what happens in my life---no joy, no peace, and although everything seems to be prospering externally, internally I am like a land suffering from drought--lifeless. Now think about our nation and read 4:2--swearing, deception, murder, stealing, adultery, violence. Sounds like the news. We can't attend concerts or athletic events because all around us people are using language that burns our ears and we cannot take our grandchildren. We turn on the radio or television or watch a movie--swearing, adultery, murder. We celebrate ultimate fighting in a cage like it was wholesome entertainment. Coaches use language on the sidelines that makes us blush---or used to. And we wonder why we struggle.
• 4:6 tells us we are destroyed because we lack knowledge. We create artificial intelligence and then fail to exercise intelligence. And notice, our lack of knowledge is not because the knowledge is not available, it is because we reject His truth. We reject the knowledge of what is real and eternal versus what is temporary and merely shadows. 
• Now notice that the people are corrupt, but the priests, the religious leaders are held accountable by the Lord. Verse 6 says he will reject those who claim to be priests but are not. Like us putting on our Sunday clothes and going to church expecting that to impress God. It does not! We pick leaders who swear, leaders who commit adultery, leaders who steal and murder [just read Matthew 5:21-26] and then are surprised when the country is not led.
• Then I read 4:10--we are always seeking more and more but never satisfied. I need more and I need better. I need what my neighbor or my boss have. I need--never enough. Where are those that are content--not lazy---content. 

Hosea was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom before it fell in 722 BC. And so he would truly understand how God was feeling about his people who were committing adultery with other gods, Hosea had an unfaithful wife, Gomer. Makes me think about what God might have to do to me and to America to get our attention. What do I get from this passage---Larry, be faithful to God and to the confession you have made about Him. Larry, be like His Son--look like, think like, act like a member of His family. Larry, know God--not just about God. Seek His heart and will. He will turn the drought into a flood of blessings.

Blessings

Larry