Hosea
July 7
Hosea 6:1-6
But I did say sorry!
Hosea the prophet pleaded with the people who had turned from God, saying; “Come let us return to the Lord who has hurt us, for He will be sure to heal us again. He has wounded us, but He will bandage our wounds. Let us try to know Him better and He will come as surely as the sun rises and as surely as the rain that falls in early spring.”
The Lord said, “Your love disappears like the morning mist or like the dew when the sun comes up. I don’t want your sacrifices, but rather, that you show mercy to others. Give me your honor and worship instead of your animal sacrifices.”
What does ‘repent’ mean?
How would you feel if someone hurt you on purpose, then laughed and said, ”Oops! Sorry!” and hurt you again. Do you think such a person is really sorry for what he or she did to you? No, of course not! Well this is exactly the way God felt about His people. They were pretending to be sorry by offering sacrifices, but in their hearts they had chosen to love their money and idols instead of loving God.
To repent means that you are truly sorry for what you have done. A prayer of repentance could be like this: “Dear Father, once again I have messed up and disappointed You by what I did. I am really sorry that I did something I knew was wrong. Please forgive me and make my heart clean. Lord, I don’t want to make the same mistake again, so please help me to stay close to You and rely on Your strength when I am tempted.”
God’s grace is big enough to forgive you every time—no matter how often you sin or how ‘big’ the sin. All God wants from you is to see that you are truly sorry and that you are willing to change and become more like Him.
Verse for today
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret... 2 Corinthians 7:10
