Thought for September 10, 2024

  • 1608: John Smith elected president of Jamestown 
  • 1776: Washington asks for a volunteer to spy on the British. Nathan Hale volunteers.
  • 1846: Elias Howe patents lock-stitch sewing machine
  • 1913: Lincoln Highway opens--first paved coast-to-coast highway in US
  • 1924: Leopold and Loeb found guilty of murdering Bobby Franks
  • 1972: Frank Shorter wins marathon at Munich Olympics
  • 1984: Alex Trebek hosts for the first time on "Jeopardy"
  • 1993: "The X-Files" debuts
  • 2000: University of Indiana fires Bobby Knight
  • 2017: Hurricane Irma hits Florida Keys
  • Born: Jay Gould, Colin Firth, Arnold Palmer, Roger Maris, Larry Nelson,  Rin Tin Tin, Amy Irving, Randy Johnson, 
  • Died: Patty Berg, Jane Wyman, Diana Rigg, 
Thought:
Still in Hosea 4 this morning. Yesterday we read verses 1-3, observing that God has a case against us and there are consequences that flow from a lack of faithfulness and obedience--for me personally and for our nation. Hosea continues that thought in verses 4-10. A few things in this passage really hit home with me:
  • We are destroyed because we have rejected knowledge. This is so true of my life. My problem is not that I don't know what is right and wrong, the world's way and God's way. The problem is that I reject God's way in disobedience and turn to the world's way. My problem is doing, not knowing.
  • We are destroyed because we have forgotten the law of God. God was clear that we should constantly remind ourselves of His law. Back in Deuteronomy 6, God ordered that we keep His commandments on our heart, teach them diligently to our children, talk about them as we sit and walk, bind them to our minds and hands, and write them on our doorposts---all so we would not forget. 
  • The more we multiply, the more we sin. [4:7] God had blessed the Israelites and told them to multiply. But the more they multiplied under His blessing, the more they sinned. Verse 7 says God will change their glory to shame. As I read this verse I am reminded that the more God blesses us individually and as a nation, the more we sin. We take His blessing as our creation--we did it. We begin to think we have earned a blessing or deserve a blessing. And the more the blessing, the less dependent on God we become, or think we have become. 
  • Verse 10 is so relevant today---we eat but don't have enough--never satisfied, always wanting more and better. And willing to do whatever it takes to get it. Fathers work and ignore the children. Then  we try and make it up by giving them things they do not need. 
Lord, help me act on Your truth, remember Your law, obey Your commands, and find my satisfaction and sufficiency only in You.

Blessings
Larry

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