Hosea 6:1-3 – “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; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

Our God is not unaware of our sinful condition.  We do not have to try to “fool God” into accepting us.  That whole idea is futile anyway, because even our “righteous” deeds are like filthy rags in front of a Holy God (Isaiah 64:6).  The question for us, however, is will we come to the Lord humble, meek, and dependant?  There is no other way to approach God.  Whoever seeks to come to God under his own power, will be judged according to his deeds.  As a friend, let me encourage you that before you seek to come to God on your own terms, know that nothing is hidden from God, even the whispers of our heart, God’s standard is perfection, and He is an all consuming fire.

So when two men are being judged after death, one who serves the poor every day, is always a nice person, and volunteers at the orphanage on the weekends, and the guy that is a struggling sinner hiding behind Jesus, the self righteous person is going to come out extra crispy… Hmmm, you can take your works, I’ll take Jesus.

This isn’t easy though, right?  We all are born prideful.  We want to live for ourselves, and even in “religious” matters we want to choose whatever suits us, instead of looking at what the Bible says.  We want to make ourselves right, instead of admitting we’re hopeless apart from Jesus.  Here’s my question – will you humbly come to the Lord for healing?  Will you look to Him for life and salvation?  Do you trust that He is with you even now?

Each of us is unique.  Each of us have unique backgrounds and lives.  Each of us makes choices.  Will you continue to choose a life that is moving away from God, or will you choose to turn to the Lord?  That is a daily decision we all make.  Will you seek the Lord, and continually seek His power for life and living or will you continue to try to “manage” things yourself?  Aren’t you tired?  Haven’t you experienced enough to know that NEVER works, that the whole idea that you’re fine on your own is a lie?  If you’ve been seeing how long you can juggle things on your own, with God as a afterthought at best, here is the peace of God extended to you – just stop.  Stop.

You don’t need to do 15 things today, you need to do one thing.  You don’t need to make your relationship with him or her better, you need your relationship with Him to be restored and that will overflow into your other relationships.  You don’t need to make a living of trying to be good, you need to humbly admit there is only One who is good, and He died so that you could live.  You don’t need to be anxious about your 401k and the next 40 years, you need to rejoice that your next 40 billion years have already been taken care of and are secure.  So with that in mind, my exhortation today is the same as Hosea – press on to know the Lord.  He is good, He is our healer, He has given us the Bible and all of creation to know Him, let’s all continue running the race of faith, pursuing God in all things, delighting in our restored relationship, and renewing our minds daily in the Word.

These are the worlds of Jesus, God in the flesh – Matthew 11:28-30 – “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Grace and Peace,
Adam