Opening Prayer: O God, Lover of our souls, forgive us when we
turn away and chase after people and things that were never intended to fully
satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts.
Forgive us, O Lord, and bring us back once again to your arms of mercy
and affection. Amen.
Scripture: Hosea 2:1-19
Journal: What other lovers do you chase after rather
than God? How is that working for you?
Reflection:
Hosea 2 is such a challenging, convicting, and
passionately tender chapter. It calls me to recognize the ways I have
left the Lover of My Soul, and have chased after lovers that can never
even begin to satisfy the deepest longings of my heart. It calls me to
name them: affirmation, success, achievement, significance, security, recognition,
esteem—and on and on and on. And it
invites me to recognize them and call them the cheap hookers that they
really are. It urges me to repent, to turn, to stop chasing after
these sorry substitutes and turn back to the One who knows me
like no other and loves me like no other. It asks me to leave their
flimsy, glittering arms and return the arms of him who can hold me like no
other, who made me uniquely and wonderfully for deep intimacy with
himself. It forces me to answer the question, "Are you
chasing lovers, or are you chasing me?"
Prayer
Closing Prayer: O Lord, my God, what false lovers do I
continually chase after for my food and my water; for my security and my
significance; for my value and my worth; for affirmation and
identity? Help me to recognize the fact that when I chase after
these lovers, I have left you, my One True Love. Allure me
now, O Lover-God, betroth me to yourself. Ravish me with your passionate
love and capture my heart completely. Make it wholly yours, that I may
chase only after you all the days of my life.
Amen.
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