Choosing God’s Path
How has a path of this world led you astray?
Verse of the Day
‘Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the Lord are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But in those paths sinners stumble and fall.’
Today’s Devotional
This is the final verse of the book of Hosea. For those who are not familiar with this Old Testament book. Let me give you a bit of a summary from crosswalk.com:
The prophet Hosea was called by God to minister to the Northern Kingdom of Israel from around 755 B.C. to 710 B.C., a ministry that lasted during the reign of Israel’s last seven kings leading up to the Assyrian invasion and destruction of the Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C. Historically, Hosea would have been the younger contemporary of the prophet Amos and ministered around the same time of Isaiah and Micah, who were hard at work ministering to the Southern Kingdom in Judah. As you might expect, the author of the book of Hosea is Hosea himself.
The most noteworthy thing we learn about Hosea early on is that he was called by God to marry a woman named Gomer, who Scripture says was either a prostitute before they got married or would become a prostitute at some point later on (Hosea 1:2). Unfortunately for Hosea, she would also continue in that profession and later leave Hosea altogether, becoming enslaved by one of her many lovers. Hosea would eventually, however, buy her back as his bride, reflecting the redeeming nature of God’s love for Israel, His bride, who He would also work to buy back (Hosea 3).”
I am a huge fan of word pictures, parables, and object lessons. There is something about them that solidifies a teaching in my brain and helps me to understand. The object lesson in the book of Hosea is that we, the people of God, are incredibly unfaithful to the God who loves us. It’s painful, but it’s true.
Going back to today’s verse, the moral of the story is that God’s way is better. If we are wise and discerning about ANYTHING in this life, then we will agree that God’s way of doing things is better for everyone. We have been invited into relationship with the God of the universe, yet many of us still feel a pull to the “lovers” of this world: pride, money, pleasure, comfort, status, esteem, gluttony.
We can see clearly in hindsight that these things offer us nothing in comparison to what God offers us. Today, let us pray for God’s wisdom and discernment to choose the path of God before us. The other paths for our day will likely seem more attractive. At the very least, those paths will be easier to see. God’s paths will be true and right. And we will LIVE by choosing God’s paths.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How has a path of this world led you astray in the past?
How has God redeemed you despite your mistakes?
How can you choose God’s path for your day today?
How can you embrace what is true and right today?