Hosea 14

Hosea 14:1-2 Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to the Lord; Say to him, "Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good.."

It took the collapsing of the people, them hitting rock bottom, having everything taken away from them, before they responded to God's call. And now they have to do it according to God's terms. They need to come before the Lord and use their words to profess their love. Not just feel the love in their hearts, but say it. Like when we pray to God, we need to express our sorrow for our sins and tell him we love him. Not just sit in silence, hoping he can feel our love.

Iniquity, meaning grossly unfair behavior, is used several times in the book of Hosea. Each time I read it, I see our priest washing his hands before preparing to touch the Eucharist, saying "Wash away my iniquities, and cleanse me of my sins." This actually comes from Psalm 51:2, but it is still reverent here. We need to come before God and ask him for forgiveness, but first we should wash ourselves clean. Not necessarily in a physical way, but by sitting and thinking of the things we need to be forgiven of. Going through our minds, hearts, lives, and seeing what dirty things lay there that we need to lay before God. Doing a thorough examination of conscience before we present ourselves to God, so that there aren't any smudges of dirt left behind our ears.

This chapter continues, showing the beauty of the conversion, where God will "heal" and "love them freely," and they will "blossom like the lily (v4)." A beautiful verse is verse 7 "Again they shall dwell in his shade and raise grain; They shall blossom like the vine, and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon." I can just envision sitting in the shade of a nice tree, watching the lands, and feeling God's love around me. Everything has been restored. God has healed the disease of sin that has infected us. And now we can enjoy his love freely.

Hosea 14:9 Let him who is wise understand these things; let him who is prudent know them. Straight are the paths of the Lord, in them the just walk, but sinners stumble in them.

Wisdom is the ability to make correct judgements using the knowledge one has. So we know about God, and now must seek and use the wisdom to choose the right path. And continue on the right path, no matter what comes our way.