I was taught all my life, and I would be the first to say, that Christianity is not a mere checklist. It's not a list of do's and don'ts that you have to do to be "good enough." It's not going to church, reading your Bible, or even praying.
So why is it so easy to fall into the "Christian" rut? I find myself waking up every day, doing the same old thing with my job, my friends, and my family. Life becomes monotonous, and it's not difficult for your spiritual life to fall into the same rut as the rest of your life. Take me, for instance. Even as I write these words, I'm in danger of falling into a spiritual rut. The daily devotional, reading the Bible, going to church, even praying - it's all become so habitual that it doesn't mean what it used to mean to me. (And on a side note, that sounds suspiciously like a checklist to me!)
It's so easy to tell when you're in a rut, versus when you're actually growing in the Lord. You can do the exact same exterior actions, but one leaves you fulfilled, while the other is simply painting the empty shell of your soul. Sometimes it's scary, when you can tell that you're not where you need to be. You ask yourself, "how will I ever get out of this?"
Thankfully, the Lord gave us a way out, in the form of a prostitute. He told the prophet Hosea to marry Gomer, an unfaithful prostitute, as a symbol of His unfailing love for His people. I'm sure our mothers would quickly remind us that prostitutes should not be regarded as role models. But the picture that Hosea and Gomer paint for us is a beautiful one. It's one of redemption, second changes, and unconditional love. And it's one that's available to each and every one of us, free of charge. No matter how far we've strayed from the path - or how deep the rut we've fallen into is - God's love will always be there to pick us back up from where we fell.
So why is it so easy to fall into the "Christian" rut? I find myself waking up every day, doing the same old thing with my job, my friends, and my family. Life becomes monotonous, and it's not difficult for your spiritual life to fall into the same rut as the rest of your life. Take me, for instance. Even as I write these words, I'm in danger of falling into a spiritual rut. The daily devotional, reading the Bible, going to church, even praying - it's all become so habitual that it doesn't mean what it used to mean to me. (And on a side note, that sounds suspiciously like a checklist to me!)
It's so easy to tell when you're in a rut, versus when you're actually growing in the Lord. You can do the exact same exterior actions, but one leaves you fulfilled, while the other is simply painting the empty shell of your soul. Sometimes it's scary, when you can tell that you're not where you need to be. You ask yourself, "how will I ever get out of this?"
Thankfully, the Lord gave us a way out, in the form of a prostitute. He told the prophet Hosea to marry Gomer, an unfaithful prostitute, as a symbol of His unfailing love for His people. I'm sure our mothers would quickly remind us that prostitutes should not be regarded as role models. But the picture that Hosea and Gomer paint for us is a beautiful one. It's one of redemption, second changes, and unconditional love. And it's one that's available to each and every one of us, free of charge. No matter how far we've strayed from the path - or how deep the rut we've fallen into is - God's love will always be there to pick us back up from where we fell.
Hosea 3
1 The LORD said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes." 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. 3 Then I told her, "you are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you." 4 For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stone, without ephod or household gods. 5 Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His blessings in the last days.
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