Today you should read: Hosea 14
This is the last chapter of this beautiful book illustrating our spiritual adultery; Christ’s persistent, always fighting, redeeming love and His covenantal faithfulness is spite of our unfaithfulness. It’s a final plea for the unfaithful bride to return back to the faithful groom. In poetic language God gives Israel (and us) one final reminder of the fruit that comes from repentance, reconciliation and restoration.
It starts off with a reminder of how our words need to match up with our actions (v. 2). So many marriages start off with vows that are just empty words. If you look at marriage as a means for personal happiness over a picture of sanctification, you will not hold onto your spouse, through thick and thin, for better or worse, richer or poorer, sickness and health, until death do us part. Thin, worse, poor, sick times are not happy times and many people don’t mean what they say in their vows. Did you mean what you said when you said “Jesus I want you to be LORD of my LIFE.” When you entered into that covenant, was that with the same intentions when you go through less “happier” times in your relationship with Christ?
- 4 – 8 shows the fruit of not only repenting from idolatry (v. 8) but being forgiven and reconciled with God after running away from Him (v. 4 uses the word APOSTACY). God restores us to become the fruitful vine He intended us to be in the beginning of our covenant with Him or the fine wine He promised through the Gospel. Just look at the differences between the dead vineyard and the fruitful vineyard below? Which one would you rather be? (*And yes, that is a real picture of a fruitful vineyard in Germany called Kappelberg Vineyards)
The last verse of this book (v. 9) is God giving us the final choice. If you’re wise and discerning, your going to go back to your first and true love. The one who created love in the first place. His ways are right and you will walk in righteousness as you dwell in the abundance fruit from His love. But those who choose their idolatrous, adulterous false loves will stumble in them.
- What’s the biggest thing that God taught you through this book?
By: Erik Koliser — West Campus Pastor
JumpstartCPC.com 
Thanks Erik! I love that metaphor of our faith as a vineyard – those pictures really are worth a thousand words. Dead, or even dormant vineyards are rather ugly and harsh… nobody wants to be there. But a thriving vineyard is beautiful and tranquil.. you just can’t help but want to walk through it and spend time there.
Amen John. Those pictures truly show why the Bible uses it as a metaphor. Thanks for the additional descriptions.