Actions > Words
Hosea 8
Israel cries out to me, “Our God, we acknowledge you!” But Israel has rejected what is good; an enemy will pursue him. They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.
Hosea 8:2-4 NIV
The people say all the right things. They cry out to God and declare that they know him and follow him. They claim to have a relationship with God. The thing that stands out the most to me is that they don’t think they are doing anything wrong. (Hello, I can relate to this!) They don’t see they are being disloyal. Their words and actions don’t align, they are rebelling and rejecting God but they don’t see it. They are blind to their actions. They are living in a state of denial and disillusion. Yikes. 😬
The more I read this- the more I saw myself. It hurts to say or think. It’s easy to say something. But living it out is another thing all together. It’s harder. Like the people in the verses above, I try to rationalize my sin, lack of trust and disloyalty by telling myself “God knows I love him.” It makes me think about how I wan people to show me love- through their actions. If my husband tells me he loves me but his actions show otherwise… I feel confused, hurt and let down. In fact, one of the most important characteristics I look for in people is consistency and that their actions meet their words.
This week I saw a post and it said “You cannot beg God to heal you and stay loyal to what Is killing you.” This stuck with me all week and then this chapter is touching on the same thing. There a many times in my life I prayed for God to get me through something. “Please God, I’ll do better and I’ll change.” Only to not follow through on my end.
God is telling me to dig deeper here. I have work to do here. That’s pretty bold of me….expecting of other humans what I fail to give to God. Wow.
Prayer: God, I am sorry for the times my actions don’t match my words. Today, help me change my heart and make it cleaner and purer. I want to live out my life for Your glory! I want it to be obvious to those around me I’m living for and because of You. When life is tough, let me remember the good promises You’ve made and kept for me. In your sweet and precious name I pray, Amen.
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