turn and return, come home.

When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.” 

Hosea 1:2

This is a crazy story. We could focus on Hosea and how crazy his willingness to be a part of God’s crazy live-action illustration was, but I wanna focus on Gomer. Gomer was someone who received her provision and shelter from running from source to source. She gave herself to various sources as a means of survival. This is how she made her living. This is how she survived. 

Hosea comes in and says look, I can take you in so you never have to work on your own again for survival. I can be your shelter and provision. You will never want again. Many of us joke about wanting to have a sugar momma and being an NBA wife so that we can rely on the provision of someone else and never have to work again and that’s exactly what is being offered to Gomer. Gomer never has to rely on her own strength again to survive. Someone else is providing for her. But she actually turns back and goes back to prostitution after accepting Hosea’s offer of rest. 

We all do this. You may not be a prostitute but you may throw yourself into work to find peace. God may have been the one to free you from addiction or toxic relationships but you still run to other sources like they actually helped more than they hurt. God may have saved you from running to these people and things and you go right back to those very things when you are stressed and depressed. This is what the children of Israel were doing. God had always been their provider. God had led them out of all of their bondage. God had provided shelter and food. God was their life source, but they kept going to other sources for provision like a prostitute relies on their clients for theirs. They kept running back to the very traps God saved them from. 

Gomer runs back to these other broke boys who really can’t provide for her as much as God… I mean Hosea could and guess what happens next. Hosea doesn’t give up. He runs into the streets to find Gomer and bring her back. He goes on a search to find his wife and offers the same provision and protection as he did before she ran. 

God said this is an illustration of what His relationship with Israel was like. They were best boys. He provided for Israel and protected them. He blessed them and fought for them so they could live in prosperity, but they kept running and God kept running after them to offer the same deal of peace. 

God did the work and continues to do the work for us so we can rest in His provision. 

When Gomer runs away God says this to Hosea, “Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them (Hosea 3:1).”

Don’t let anyone tell you that God stops loving you when you fall. Even when you run from Him. The offer of the peace and provision He won for you is still on the table. You just need to turn and accept it. 

Return to God. 

Don’t be scared. 

He knows you and has sympathy. 

He loves you more than you know. 

Just turn back. 

Hosea was a prophet who was told to marry someone with a history and propensity to leave him and cheat on him. And he still went back to buy her back from her pimp and love her again when she left. He kept sacrificing image and resources, not so he could get something from her but actually, so he could give to her and selflessly love her (he actually stops having sex with her for a while after bringing her back. There are definitely some STD jokes in there but I will refrain lol). But the point is that this guys goal was to sacrificially pour into his wayward wife as much as he could, no matter how much she turned away. He paid money to win her back knowing she’d likely run away again.

Now, this is a random guy who God told to do this. How much more do you think God Himself does and continues to do it for us? Think of the times you decided to run from Him and God still blessed you. Think back to the times you intentionally ignored His voice and He still chased you? 

God loves you and wants you more than you could ever imagine. He just wants you to come back home so you don’t get hurt anymore. He isn’t worried about the clean-up. He will handle that himself later. He just wants you home. 

Do you want to go home today?

Do you want to stop abandoning God as you flee to other sources of sustenance? 

Do you want to let Him heal you so you can stop running to these other sources? 

All you gotta do is turn. Give yourself to Him. And He will do the work of cleaning you up. 

That’s my prayer, that all of us can stop running and let God catch us. 

The word repent puts a bad taste in my mouth. Society has merged it with a tone Jesus never used. Calling people to repent usually sounds harsh and blunt and finger pointy, but we have to make sure we are reading the Bible how the original readers would have heard it. 

In the original language, repenting literally just means to return. 

When you fall just return to Jesus. 

When you slip just return to the path. 

When you run just come back home. 

Return. 

All God is calling us to do is step back and realize that this path may feel good but it’s hurting us more than it’s healing us. We need to change our minds (in Hebrew it means return but the Greek word for repent just means to change your mind) about it and turn to Him. That’s It. Realize that isn’t the right direction and about-face. Return to Jesus. 

Turn back to Him. You may stumble but the best time to turn is now. Turn from the past. Turn from the failure. Turn from the pain and return to Jesus. You aren’t good enough to sustain on your own? Just turn. I promise He will give you peace and a way out. 

We often think following God means we can’t mess up. But the mere word “return” assumes this isn’t your first time turning. It’s ok to mess up. Just turn again. 

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