"Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD . . . (Hosea 6:1-3)
We who have, by God's grace, trusted Christ as Lord and Savior, have been united with Him in his death for their sins and in His resurrection. As Christ was raised on the third day, we too, when we received Him as Lord and Savior, were raised with Him. That day became our "Resurrection Day," our "third day". We were raised to "newness of life" (Romans 6:4) "so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin" (Romans 6:6).
But God's people today, as in Hosea's day, have a tendency to drift away from Him. And though our "idolatry" is more subtle today, it is no less deadly! The Apostle John, writing to believers in Christ, concludes his First Epistle with this warning: "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." (1 John 5:21). The Apostle Paul, likewise, exhorted the Corinthian Christians: "Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry." (1 Corinthians 10:14)
What are the idols that seek our worship today? Has something taken the place of Christ in our love and loyalty? Is there any activity in our lives that cannot be legitimately offered to God in gratitude? Is He shut out of any part of our lives? Or perhaps we have perverted the worship of the one true God to conform to our desires - as the Israelites did in Hosea's day. All this is idolatry.
"Come let us return to the LORD!"
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