Prostitutes

I am a prostitute.



That got your attention, didn't it? Well, breathe easier, it does go deeper than that, and for those of you know know me, I can assure you that I am not a real prostitute.



However, there is a very small obscure book in the Old Testament that calls us, or Israel at the time, prostitutes. For those of you who always have to tone things down so you don't feel convicted, you can use the word 'unfaithful.'



Hosea is one of my favorite books in the Bible. It and Psalms kinda stay up there in the top few. You see, what happens in Hosea is this: Israel was being themselves and falling away from God over and over and over, as they had for many years. Well, God chooses this man, Hosea, to be His prophet. Let's just say that he probably would have ran if he knew what was up.



God tells Hosea to marry a prostitute.



So, he does. and he has kids with this woman. And she has this problem and she keeps running away from poor Hosea. Yeah, that's kinda frustrating.



So, by now, I am sure that at least some of my faithful readers want to know why this is one of my favorite books, am I correct here? You're saying, "So, he likes people's misery?" Nay, I say. That's not it at all.



The point of Hosea is this: God is showing is perfect love to Israel. He is using Hosea and his interesting family to prove a point. Yeah, I would have very mixed feelings about being used in this way. But seriously, God is showing His jealousy of Israel and His love for them that is so deep, through the story of Hosea.



Poor Hosea must keep following and searching after his wife, Gomer, to keep bringing her back from her old livestyle. She is scared of his powerful love.



You see, we're like that. We're prostitutes of sorts. We're Gomer, we fall back into our old sinful livestyles because we're scared. We're scared of love. and we're scared of so much.



I love being scared of love. Because that's a lot of love if you're scared of it. that's like love enough to die on a cross.



but that's not the only reason that I love this book. I love it because I feel like different roles at different times. Yes, you can learn to run to the love. Pure love. but we can also learn from Hosea. Simple Hosea.



Hosea loved. He loved a lot. I've never known a prostitute, let alone married one. the forgiveness and the mercy and the patience and the perseversance that Hosea has is astounding. It's the love of Jesus. It's selfless to the core. We can learn from that, as well.



Learn to love and to accept love. That's what we're called to do and that's why I love this book so much. It shows true love. God's love. So, yes, we're prostitutes and we mess up. but the goal is to be the loving husband who seeks and searches for the broken and discusting and welcomes them back with loving arms. Jesus Christ is called the groom of the church. See a connection? So love. love like Jesus. Love like Hosea. Love and forgive.