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What a challenge this text (Hosea 1-2) has been already!  Here are the questions I took down in my notes as I listened to Pastor Danny on Sunday:

  • To the degree that I am a part of God’s people, what is my actual responsibility toward him?
  • How have I been living in relation to God?
  • How have I been living in relation to others connected to God?
  • What am I chasing others for that must be sought from the LORD?
  • What am I crediting to others (or myself) that the LORD alone provides?
  • Do I actually want God or do I want his ‘stuff’/blessings?
  • How often is my repentance sourced in pragmatism and selfishness and not in actual godly sorrow?
  • Am I ready/willing/able to admit the part I have played in sinful scenarios?
  • How have I abused what God has given me by using it to chase after other things?
  • Where has God removed his blessing/favor on me because of my unfaithfulness?
  • What ‘gods’ am I really serving, seeking, and sacrificing for?
  • What ‘idols’ am I accepting satisfaction from?
  • How am I demonstrating religious syncretism in my life? How am I blending together what God has said with what the world says, and then believing that it is acceptable/honorable/pleasing to the LORD?

Perhaps the summary questions we can explore for ourselves this week are, “How have I been giving faithfulness to what is itself faithless?  How have I been faithless to the only One who is faithful?” 

God is constantly giving us opportunity to stop, see more clearly, and turn the other way.  Whenever we encounter roadblocks, difficulties, hurdles, barriers, et c. in our pursuits, we should pause and take appropriate notice.  It is not always indicative that we need to ‘cease and desist’ but it is foolhardy to obstinately plow ahead without examining our motives and actions according to the Word of God, and perhaps even seeking counsel from other wise and godly individuals in our life.  God has given us his Word, Spirit, and one another as the church (the “called out ones”) so that we can be distinct and faithful to him.

Let us pray together that we (corporately and individually) do not look like the world.