“We don’t have a king,”
you will say.
“We don’t fear the Lord.
And what good are kings?” Hosea 10:3 (CEV)
They go around saying,
“Who needs a king?
We couldn’t care less about God,
so why bother with a king?
What difference would he make?” (Msg)
How do you feel about authority?
In 1 Samuel 8, we see how the Israelites felt about God’s authority: they rejected it and demanded a king. A king who would tax them. Who would make treaties with other nations instead of relying on Jehovah-Sabaoth, the God of Angel Armies, to fight for them.
Now in Hosea’s time, the people were rejecting all authority.
How about us?
Are you convinced down deep the authority in your life is for your good? That no authority is given to man except what God allows? And that by aligning yourself under Him in a conflict will give Him room to work for everyone’s good and His glory?
Speaking of conflict, can I tell you something else He’s been showing me lately?
It’s almost never about who’s right.
God seems more interested in what I have learned in conflict. Whether I can trust human authority more than before because He was the trustworthy Authority at every turn.
Whatever you’re going through – no matter what – His motives toward you have been perfectly pure, completely just, and exceedingly full of grace.
Let’s trust that.
I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness,
and you will harvest a crop of love.
Plow up the hard ground of your hearts,
for now is the time to seek the Lord,
that he may come
and shower righteousness upon you.’ Hosea 10:12 NLT
Plow your fields,
scatter seeds of justice,
and harvest faithfulness.
Worship me, the Lord,
and I will send my saving power
down like rain. (CEV)
Plow your hearts.
Sow good seeds of justice & righteousness.
Worship Him.
When farmers wanted to train a new ox, they would yoke it with a stronger, trained one. If the untrained ox wanted to stop and graze or go off in a wrong direction, the trained ox would keep him on task.
All of us are yoked to something.
Our Master guarantees His yoke is easy and burden is light.
The harvest we get yoked to Him is one of joy, faithfulness, and showers of His saving love.