Hosea 2: 5a-8
"She said, "I will go after my lovers,
who give me food and my water,
my wool and linen, my oil and my drink.
Therefore I will block her path in thornbushes;
I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.
She will chase after her lovers but not catch them.
Then she will say, 'I will go back to my husband as at first,
for then I was better off than now.'
She has not acknowledged that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold-
Which they used for Baal...
like Hosea's wife and the Israelites, i have been a spiritual adulterer.
(gulp, those words are hard to swallow).
i have given myself over to something other than God.
i have gone after it, seeking to find my sustenance in it (my worthiness and purpose).
i have been romancing it (something other than a kidney stone, which yes, i still have); prettying myself up for it emotionally and spiritually, persuading it to delight in me.
i have chased after it, and have been FIXATED on it.
i have been cheating on God... with the church.
i made the church my idol.
the church has been what my identity is found in, and what i've lived for.
ANYTHING can become our idol if we are not cautious; worship, church leadership, motherhood, a job/purpose, education, blog, facebook, self-image, money... (these come to mind because they are what i struggle with most).
thankfully our God is a jealous God who wants us entirely for himself. Hosea 2:14
Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will speak tenderly to her.
Hosea 2:16 and19-21
"In that day," declares the Lord, you will call me husband... I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness,
and you will acknowledge the Lord."
Have you ever cheated on God?
8 comments:
most of my life
Yes. And I was just thinking, the enemy is so sneaky at distracting us that we don't often know we're putting something before God until it's "too late" and we're caught up in it.
I know I've said this before, but you are such a gifted writer, Denise. I love how God just flows through you. Thank you for sharing your true self again and again.
over and over and over again. And you would think someone with trust issues like myself would not be so quick to throw out the commitment I made to my Sweet Jesus.
I am like a puppy--chasing the newest flash of light that comes in front of my face. I chase it, catch it, chew on it for awhile and then get bored and start looking for the next thing to chase.
Praying I will learn to chase the light of Christ and thankful for your truth and honesty that continues to bring me to my knees.
Still praying for the stone.
paige
I think it is one of those things we have to fight our whole lives though. It is why we are here on earth...to be tried and tested. But, it is when we realize what we are doing that we can come back and do right again, right? And thank goodness for repentance.
"Behind every False god is a door we've left open" is the title of the page from the No Other Gods study by Kelly Minter that I have open in front of me. I sat down to do some study on 2 Chron 31:20-21 and your blog was still up from earlier but I hadn't read it...you always bless my heart and are so poignant...thank you.
I forgot to add that I printed your post to take to the study tonight
i am a spiritual adulteress too.
big time.
ugh.
your words torn right to the core of my heart. and my eyes have been opened to everything i have been cheating on Him with.
it so pains me to realize what i am doing.
i don't want to miss Him anymore. i don't want to cheat anymore.
Came for a visit via Simply Sara's blog - it is so true that anything can become an idol. I'm feeling very convicted of that as of late. Thank you for your poignant words. God used them in my life today.
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