Right Of Return

Home, it’s been said, is the place where they have to take you back, no matter what you’ve done. Not all homes are like that, of course, yet the sentiment works as a metaphor of God’s unending desire to restore his wandering children to their proper estate.

“Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity” (v 1).

Hosea’s people had not been attentive to their heavenly father’s desires. They’d squandered their spiritual inheritance, transgressed God’s explicit demands for worship, and deviated from his patterns for righteous living. Yet God’s anger does not last. His desire for reconciliation radically overwhelms any punitive impulse.

The way back home is relatively straightforward. It begins with an honest acknowledgment of wrongdoing and a simple plea for God to remove all guilt. It disavows dependency on unholy alliances and misguided worship. A truly repentant heart clings to the compassionate character of God: “In you, the orphan finds mercy” (v 3).

God’s heart seems to melt when people approach him in this posture. “I will heal their disloyalty,” he responds. “I will love them freely for my anger has turned from them” (v 4). And it gets better. God goes on to detail how he will prosper those who follow in his ways; how he will bless those who abide in the home he provides.

People are better off when we understand that God is endlessly compassionate and that habits of godly living lead to human flourishing. It’s also encouraging to know that when we do wander from God’s ways, we always have the right of return.

Hosea concludes with an aphorism: “Those who are wise understand these things; those who are discerning know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them” (v 9).

Respond in Prayer

Thank you, God, for creating a place where I will always be welcome. Thank you for the hospitality you continue to extend, even after I’ve chosen to abandon your kindness. Thank you for the open-ended right of return. Lead me home, O God. Lead me home. Amen.

Doug Koop