December 6

Hosea 3-5

My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge (4:6). God is patient, but don’t think punishment never arrives. The destruction Hosea foretells is famine, plague, and multiple invading armies. He predicts Israel’s destruction by armies of lust and hunger that prevent physical satiation, armies of decay that cause crop failure, and armies of men who leave rivers of blood. All because they followed false gods, which sounds familiar. Just as “the proof of the pudding is in the eating,” the proof of the Bible’s veracity in its ability to predict events. Everything Hosea predicted happened.

In their day, the people of God chased idols like a cat chases a laser pointer. One might wonder how a nation of men who memorized the Law could break it so easily. It is in the same way that a spouse discards their vows to chase career or pleasure, discarding a good life for an exciting moment. Neither idol-chasers, nor adulterers believe God’s word (they lack knowledge). They turn away from Him and walk to the side of town where God is mocked.

Israel forgot that God will not share His throne with fakes. Nothing has changed since. Idols represent lying demon-gods, and people chase them like children playing tag on a playground. Most people today do not fantasize over idols of wood or stone–we prefer to idolize ourselves, money, cars, and the best-selling “better sex”! Some of our neighbors think they’re gods. They take scissors to God’s word, cutting out the parts they don’t like without taking time to understand what they’re cutting.

But when God’s word goes out, it returns to Him having accomplished all that He intended (Isaiah 55:11, Hebrews 4:12). He intends that we learn how the world actually works–in fact, functionality is one literal meaning of “word” as it is used in the Bible. God wants us to know how He works and how people tick. He has given us this insight in writing, and it hastens our destruction when we ignore it. God gave us the Bible to remind us that though our neighbors act like hookers on holiday, we can love them toward Jesus. We can hope the woke will awaken, the lost will be found, and mockers will come to their senses. What a great day that will be!

2 John

This is love that we walk according to His commandments. (1:6). Love is always conditional, but the conditions can vary like the weather. Our temptation is to prefer the world’s easy definition for love, which is to agree with fickle ideas of justice that have no basis in reality, are enforced by power, are self-serving, and flow with popular opinion. Therefore, the world’s love is not love at all, it’s political expediency.

God’s love is faithful and sacrificial. It cost God something to love you. His condition is that we deny ourselves and follow Him to love others sacrificially. What does love cost your god?

Proverbs 29:9-11

If a wise man goes to court with a fool, there will be raving and laughing with no resolution. I’ve found myself in a tangle with a fool more than once. I got there because I was foolish. I stepped over signs that they were not as they claimed and did not ask enough hard questions. My too-quick-to-jump attitude mixed with too much reliance on my own sensibilities got me in a place where I was ready to take them to court. Thankfully, God’s word rescued me from years of raving and laughing with no resolution. Better to let the matter go and ask God for forgiveness and vindication. The fool’s days will end badly, but I need not waste time on them.