240126 – Relentless Love

READ: Hosea 14:6 

“I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily.” 

Hosea has been a harsh book to work through, right? It forces us to confront the reality of our own unfaithfulness and unworthiness. On the flip side, there is so much hope in this book. God is faithful when we are unfaithful. God fights for us even when we are weak. God welcomes us home, even though we are rebels and runaways. 

As Hosea concludes his series of prophecies, God promises to be like “dew to Israel.” This means that God remains a source of replenishment and nourishment during difficult times. Imagine dew drops settling on the grass in the middle of the morning. For ancient Israel, this was the only moisture available for plants during a drought. Plants depended on the morning dew — especially during a drought. This would cause little white lilies to poke through the desolate landscape. The dew nourished them in the middle of a desert.  

We are those lilies breaking through the cracked clay. Even when life gets ugly, God manages to make beauty. He does that with us. Our lives are like lilies in the middle of the desert. Reading this passage, I immediately visualized a wedding bouquet made up of white lilies. The crowd stands to their feet as the bride slowly glides down the aisle while flowers fall at her feet. You can see some pain in her eyes, but her groom is beaming from ear to ear. We just went back to the start. This is the opening scene of Hosea. Their honeymoon made way for heartbreak. Mistakes were made, hearts were broken, and trust was shattered. Pushing past the pain, Hosea renewed his vows again — then again — then again. When he said “until death do us part,” he really meant it. 

Are you ready to renew your vows with God? Whether you have been richer or poorer, faced struggles or setbacks, or even flat out ran away, God is ready to renew His vows with you. Pick up your bouquet, lift your veil,  set your eyes on your savior, and ask Him to welcome you back. I assure you that He will say, “I do.” 

Through the power of Jesus, death won’t even let you part. That’s relentless love.