Have you ever met someone who is truly spiritual? Like those that could do no harm and wake up every morning at 3 AM to pray to God for 4 hours on behalf of everyone but themselves? I love those people and I wish I could wake up that early in the morning to do all the spiritual things they do. Maybe one day I’ll be able to, but for now I sleep until I can’t anymore. One thing that I have found true, and I believe all the 3 AM spiritual people would agree with me, is that everyone stumbles. Even them. Sometimes it feels like they don’t, but in reality they do. The same thing happens with pastors. Sometimes people think that pastors can’t stumble, but in reality they are human just like all of us.

In today’s scripture in Hosea, we read about how Israel stumbled, Ephraim stumbled, and even Judah stumbled. Wait a second, ever Judah? Judah is like those spiritual 3 AM people. They are the really devout and zealous that would do no harm. The ones I would like to be like. Hosea 5:5 says, “Judah also stumbles with them.” One thing I love about the Bible is that it doesn’t shy away from pointing out all the flaws of the biblical characters. Like how Moses couldn’t speak or Samson flirted with Philistine girls, and the list goes on. In fact, if you look at all the biblical characters in the bible, they all stumbled. Except for one. Jesus Christ.

I don’t know who you look up to today. Maybe it’s a mentor, a boss, a pastor, author, or someone that you follow on social media or youtube. But I want you to know this: even they stumble. I’m not trying to get you to stop looking up to them or stop consuming their content. The Apostle Paul said, follow me as I am following Jesus, but I am trying to get you to realize that they can’t be the foundation of your faith. They also can’t be the intermediary to your relationship with Jesus. They will stumble and they will fail you, the only one that won’t is Jesus. Don’t settle for connecting with God only through someone else, but build your own personal relationship.

1 Corinthians 3: 10-11 “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.