Have you ever noticed how sometimes life can often times seem like an episode of “How I Met Your Mother,” moving from one relationship to the next, always looking for “the one?” We all pretty much know where the relationships will end up, but the “packaging” just looks so good and, of course, it’s there. Americans by their very nature are impatient and want instant satisfaction and gratification. Sometimes it is hard to wait for God to bring that “good girl” into your life when the “bad girl” (notice that these terms ARE in quotes) is much more readily available.
While there are several examples of this kind of thing played out in the Bible, on story in particular comes to mind. There’s this little book in the back half of the Old Testament that plays this out perfectly. Hosea was a prophet, and as a prophet he had a certain reputation to uphold. He was God’s representative on earth, after all, and he wanted to hold himself to a higher standard as an example of what a Godly lifestyle should look like. You can probably imagine his shock and (I’d imagine) horror when God told Hosea who He wanted him to marry. There was a woman with a certain reputation in town, Gomer. Gomer wasn’t necessarily a prostitute, but she had slept around quite a bit which tended to make her rather popular with the men. That must have been an interesting discussion between Hosea and God, wouldn’t you think?
For her part, Gomer was probably shocked and ecstatic at the same time. She knew what she’d been doing wasn’
t right, but once she was on that road she couldn’t see any way to turn back. Then one day a man shows up at her door and asks her father for her hand in marriage, and this isn’t just ANY man, it’s a prophet. I’d imagine that for a while at least the marriage was a good one because God had given her the excuse she needed to stop her immoral ways.
But the years went by. The couple had three children and everything seemed to be going okay. But Satan had a pretty long memory, and it wasn’t long before Gomer started leaving here and there. After awhile she just didn’t come back, leaving Hosea to raise his three children without their mother. I can imagine him giving a big “I told you so” to God while at the same time feeling as if his heart had been torn inside out and asking “why?”
Another year or so went by and someone ran up and told Hosea he had better get into town right away. It seems his missing wife was on the auction block to be sold as a slave. Hosea, being a man of God, decided to consult with his Boss. After receiving instruction from God, Hosea hurried into town and before everyone (which I’d imagine was rather embarrassing for him) be bought back his wife with all the money he had. Hosea demonstrated to his wife, as well as to the people watching, what love is supposed to be.
This story is played out on a much grander scale, however. We are Gomer and God, God is Hosea. How often are we seduced by the ways of the world and away from God? Many times in the Bible God refers to His Church as His Bride. How much then must it hurt Him when we leave Him for worldly gains? It can be easy to look down our nose at others with a reputation of ill repute, but how easy is it to acknowledge that we are exactly the same?
Jesus said it best when dealing with another woman that all the bad guys seemed to like. Mary Magdalene, naked and at His feet, surrounded by a mob. Jesus, without a word looks at her accusers and begins writing in the sand. We don’t know what He wrote but I’d imagine it was something they didn’t want to acknowledge because it would make them the equal of the adulteress, and that was something they could not swallow. After they had all gone and she was alone with the Master, He asked her where her accusers were. When she replied that they had gone, He said to her (as He says to us now): “Neither do I condemn you, now go and sin no more.”
No comments:
Post a Comment