Hosea

"I sang and I danced like I did as a young girl
Hosea, Hosea
I am a slave and a harlot no more

You washed me clean like a summer rain
And you set me free with that ball and chain
Hosea, I threw away the key, I'll never leave"

- Andrew Peterson

I was in the shower listening to music this morning and "Hosea" came on, a song by Andrew Peterson, a favorite artist of mine. I had listened to the song a few times in the past couple days because its lyrics had been affecting my heart in an unusual way. If you know the Bible story of Hosea, God asks him to marry a harlot named Gomer. She leaves Hosea's house and is unfaithful to him. Nonetheless, Hosea finds Gomer, forgives her of her sin, and takes her back home. He did this because the Lord had told him, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods..." (Hosea 3:1).

This story and Peterson's song are beautiful representations of God's heart. It's so easy to see ourselves as less than God's chosen son or daughter, to despair at our sin to the point where we lose hope, or we simply resist God's gift of freedom. The reasons for doing any of these things are numerous, but joyful living - free living - cannot be found unless we bind ourselves to Jesus -- our Beloved Jesus Christ. Gomer's life as a harlot was "comfortable" because it had been part of her identity. It was what she knew. However, it was being vulnerable by placing her heart in Hosea's hands to love her gently, steadily, that was truly the safest place for her. 

It reminds me of C.S. Lewis' oft repeated quote: "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Jesus Christ has offered me infinite joy, yet I shamefully admit that I've wasted time making far too many mud pies in my life. How can I instead receive the gift that's been given me? If it were so simple as reaching out my hands, wouldn't I have embraced it by now? I think it might be that simple, but one doesn't reap the relational benefits of knowing a person unless they spend quality time with one another, know each other deeply. Spending time with Jesus is how we receive the gift, I think.

Also, just as real joy and trust in marriage can only be found through devotion and commitment, I must fully fix myself to Christ. I know marriage is really hard. So it makes sense that my relationship with Christ will not be perfect, either (on my part, not His!). But it is daily, repeatedly committing myself to Jesus that produces freedom. 

"And you set me free with that ball and chain".

I have a picture in my head of girl standing on top of a bluff by the sea, smiling with her arms stretched out wide, head bent back, basking in the beauty of her Lord. I know it's me, or at least the me I long to be, but it is a picture in my heart - not something I can feel yet. In the meantime, I'm going to open my heart to Jesus on this beautiful day and spend some time with Him.

“Because God has made us for Himself, our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.” ~ St. Augustine