Return to Me
According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me. Hosea 13:6
It’s very easy to become proud when we think we have all we need, when in actuality He is all We need; for He supplies the rest.
According to their pasture, so they were filled. He fed them yet they forgot. Are you relying on things, people, resources or income rather than God? Of course we need all of these things but these things can never truly suffice or bring peace. Do we have the or do they have us? It reminds me of the scripture where the Israelites wanted more, more, more. But yet, it was never enough. So God was basically like, fine! I’ll give it to you and it’ll seem good but then…… (and so here’s what happened.)
You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, But for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the LORD who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?” Numbers 11:19-20
It was intentional that He gave them so much, so that they would become sick of it. So full that they would begin to gag and vomit it up. Sounds like they angered God. Why? Why would God do that? He had a lesson to teach them. They weren’t trusting God and they always wanted more; His provision was never enough and so they complained. They despised Him. And what does despise mean? To dislike very much. In other words they rejected Him. I bet they didn’t think they despised Him, but their actions proved otherwise. Despise is a strong word and feeling. They turned from and disregarded Him, and what He was trying to do. They wanted to go back to Egypt. What does Egypt represent? Bondage! But it was predictable! They didn’t want to use faith. It was comfortable though miserable, and how quickly they forgot their former pains!
Are we any different? How quickly we can also forget what hell we went through and so desperately wanted out of, but yet so often and quickly go (revert) back to. It is possible to get comfortable in our own misery because we know ‘what to expect’, even if it’s barely enough to get by and it’s killing us inside. They didn’t have to guess what would happen, every day it was the same thing: work as a slave and get 3 hots and a cot. That greatly displeases God and it takes or requires no faith on our part to trust and believe Him. And ultimately what happened? That generation didn’t enter in or obtain the promise. They died in the wilderness (In the middle, out of bondage but stuck in wandering) along with their disbelief, because they refused to trust Him! They refused to believe.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:17
It takes faith to please God. The more we use our faith, the more it will increase. I don’t want to get off track here, because I started off by talking about having much and not needing God. But, if we rely on poverty or we rely on gain, we aren’t relying on Him. Either way we forget. He wants to be number 1 in everything. Yet we all struggle and we all have sinned.
They angered God by building shrines to other gods; they made him jealous with their idols. Psalm 78:58
But with whom was He grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware He that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Hebrews 3:17-19
We must understand that we can grieve God. It angers Him when we refuse to trust Him and cooperate (act accordingly). How frustrating it is to a parent whose child refuses to trust or cooperate with them. It angers us, and though we love them, we are grieved. It kept them out of Gods will and so the promise and it will us too. We must not get full off of the things of the world ( our lack or gain ) and not rely fully on God. We must not forget about Him.
He’s always enough! We can rest assured.
The Israelites were full alright, so full and selfish that it had no where to go but up. Same story here in Hosea as when they were fed, their heart was lifted up or in other words, “they became proud” in thinking they didn’t need God. That’s easy to do when you think you got it going on but it’ll soon back fire. Sooner or later. Nothing or no one can fill or take the place of God.
But, there is a solution and He offers it freely to all who have strayed. He says it continually through the prophets along the way. He’s the same today. This isn’t new and there is nothing new under the sun. People have been straying, going their own way and trying to take care of themselves since the beginning.
If you’ll go on to read in Hosea, you’ll see that it is God wills for us to return. He says all through His word to “repent” and turn, and so be restored. He will relent: He says return to Me and I’ll return to you! The prodigal father loved his son very much. In short: he let him go on to do what he felt he needed to do and the son blew his father’s fortune that was given to him early. It didn’t stop the fathers love, no! But his son had free will! What happened? The son returned eventually, after he blew it all and realized his way wasn’t working But guess what? There stood the father: waiting with arms open wide as he saw his son coming down the road. He had hoped this day would come. I don’t believe that he ever stopped looking.
He (the son) returned to the father, the father in turn, welcomed him back in. God wants to do the same for you and me. He loves you with the an ever-lasting love. He can’t stop loving us but we can resist that love and refuse to return, or we can come. The choice is up to you and me.
Remember???:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
That’s a scripture almost everyone knows, even unbelievers, but have we really applied it to our lives and so lived accordingly? How often we forget the real meaning behind this verse. It’s one to live by. It cost Him everything and it was all for us. Do we live fully unto Him according to the blood He shed for us??? We must give it all back, our hearts in exchange and come back to the Father! Our lives fully dedicated and putting nothing else in His place.
He told the people to take away all their iniquity and to accept what was good. We can’t have both. It was the same iniquity that caused us to fall and fail. We are to give thanks, for in God our Father we find love, pity and mercy!
I believe what the Lord is saying to His beloved is nothing new! He died for them in their sin, He died for you! “Return to Me and I will return to you.”
“Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ Malachia 3:7
Bring it all back, all that you’ve withheld from Him. It’s all from Him and to be used for Him. He wants your whole heart and then He has your whole life. It’s easy to get distracted by things and stuff, even by good things. But then we are prone to neglect God because these things become distractions and distractions become priority, like it or not. Even what we hate can become an idol because we give it too much attention. We must be so full of God, His word, and His love, that we have no room for anything else to become first place. We must keep our eyes on Him because we steer where we stare.
He loves you with an everlasting love as He told Jeremiah in chapter 31 & verse 3. He has drawn you in with unfailing kindness, when we didn’t deserve it. That’s how much He loves us. He loved you from way back when, before you even knew or was known, He knew you. When HE was on the cross, YOU were (already) on His mind. He knew you, yet He loved you. Mistakes and all. That’s the kind of love my Father gives and we must trust Him, take Him at His word, lean and depend on Him - rather than others or stuff that will fail us or fade.
We must not take for granted the love of the Father. It’s an unconditional love but when we put anything between us and God, it separates us from Him, as it will any relationship. Doesn’t mean He quits loving. Yet, He is faithful and just to forgive. He is also faithful to provide for and help us, but we must return and lean. Who or what are we leaning toward or relying on?
“I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from him.” Hosea 14:4
All you have to do is repent. Be truly sorry. Have a change of heart and mind and so turn and come back to Him. He’s waiting with arms wide open.
He died just for you! Not to live the way you want to.
Father God, may we recognize where we have fallen short as we come to You. Whether it’s trusting in our lack or gain, help us to give it all back to You. For when we come back to the place of trust and quiet, we gain back our perspective and strength. May we daily surrender it all to You, anything that is fighting for first place over You. Any doubts and unbelief, any fear, any pride, or any hinderance that’s trying to creep in. We give it back to You and want You to have full control. I surrender all. In Your Name Jesus, Amen.
