Friday 5 Dec 2014

December 5: Hosea 6:4-11

Key Verse: Hosea 6:6
For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Devotion:
God continued to try and tell the people of Israel of the things that made a difference to Him. He told them of all the rules and regulations to try and get them to understand that getting things right all the time was an impossible task. He told them of the sacrifices to try and get them to see that no matter how many sacrifices they made, they would have to make more because they would get things wrong time and time again. He told them that their faults far outweighed the sacrifices they were bringing to Him…

And still they would not listen… Does that sound familiar? I hope it does because this is the way we still live today! We continue to try and do the right things and we continue to get things wrong. We continue to mess up and require more to pay for all we do wrong. This is why Christ was brought to the world, so we would have a final payment which would cover it all for all of us!

God allowed His Son to come down and pay for the things we do wrong. The payment was a single payment which was more than enough to pay for all those wrong things in the past, present and future… And yet we still get things wrong and we still feel like we should be paying even more for those wrong-doings! God is saying that the price Jesus paid is enough and there is no more to pay.

If we don’t believe this then by our own admission we have to go out and do our own sacrifices to cover the wrong we have done. Which then has to be continually repeated because we have more we bring up in front of God each and every day! I love the simplicity of the message, but, like many I struggle with the fact that Jesus had to give His life because of what I have done wrong. The most amazing fact is that I don’t have to go out and find a perfect lamb or other animal to sacrifice for what I have done wrong because I know that Christ has already paid for me…

Points to Ponder:
Do you feel guilty?

Do you understand how much God loves you?