God's Love Story

Before I go on to tell this wonderful story, I need to make a few disclaimers. The title and the entire story are not works of mine. I read this in "Our Daily Bread" today and thought I'd share it with everyone - whether Christian or not. I think it makes a good story and spells out the concept of love, jealousy and cheating I mentioned in earlier posts. If you're a Christian and/or interested in the Bible passage, have a look at Hosea 11. Finally, the author of the story is, Philip Yancey and it can be found on the October 21 page of the 2009 Annual Edition of Our Daily Bread.

Is there any feeling more powerful than that of betrayal? Ask a high school girl whose boyfriend has dumped her for a pretty cheerleader. Or tune your radio to a country-western station and listen to the lyrics of infidelity. Or check out the murders reported in the daily newspaper, an amazing number of which trace back to a quarrel with an estranged lover.

In the Old Testament, God through Hosea's marriage demonstrates in living color exactly what it is like to love someone desperately and get nothing in return. Not even God, with all His power, will force a human being to love Him.

Many people think of God as an impersonal force, something akin to the law of gravity. The book Hosea portrays almost the opposite: a God of passion and fury and tears and love. A God in mourning Israel's rejection of Him (11:8).

God the lover does not desire to share his bride with anyone else. Yet, amazingly, when Israel turned her back on God, He stuck with her. He was willing to suffer, in hope that someday she would return to Him.

Hosea, and later Jesus, prove that God longs not to punish but to love. In fact, He loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us!