Scripture: Hosea 14: 1-2,4

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall!(1) Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.”(2) “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.”(4)

Scripture Commentary: Our only hope is in God’s mercy – we cannot save ourselves

God punished Israel for its gross repeated violations of his law, but he did so with a heavy heart. God wanted to restore the nation and make it prosper. The people could return to God by asking him to forgive their sins. The same is true for us. Return to God.  We can pray Hosea’s prayer and know our sins are forgiven because Christ died for them on the cross.

Forgiveness begins when we see the destructiveness of sin and the futility of life without God. Then we must admit we cannot save ourselves; our only hope is in God’s mercy. When we request forgiveness, we must recognize that we do not deserve it and therefore cannot demand it. Our appeal must be for God’s love and mercy, not for His justice.

Although we cannot demand forgiveness, we can be confident that we have received it because God is gracious and loving and wants to restore us to Himself just as He wanted to restore Israel.

God never fails!

Read the Entire Chapter:
Hosea Chapter 14