Slices
Prepare
Slow your breathing and focus on your breath. As you inhale, breathe in love. As you exhale, breathe out love for others. Repeat, using words such as peace, hope, joy, faith or the fruits of the Spirit.
Bible passage
Hosea’s reconciliation with his wife
3 The Lord said to me, ‘Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.’
2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. 3 Then I told her, ‘You are to live with me for many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.’
4 For the Israelites will live for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods. 5 Afterwards the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.
Explore
Whenever anyone uses an analogy in which they may be seen as representing God, I am a little suspicious of how they understand their power in relation to others. So when I read the book of Hosea, it does alarm me that Hosea might have seen himself as taking on the role of God in his relationship with Gomer. But perhaps by doing so it reveals that God loves in a very different way to how Hosea thinks God loves.
Notice that the instruction God gives in verse 1 is to Hosea and is about how Hosea should love. It is not about how Gomer should love and neither does God tell Hosea that he should force Gomer to behave in a certain way. Nevertheless, Hosea takes it upon himself to tell Gomer how he thinks she should behave. Hosea might think he is loving Gomer the way that God loves, but actually he is not. Coercive control is not love – it is abuse. In contrast, the love of God is non-controlling, non-coercive. God’s love for us does not falter or depend on our actions – it is unconditional.
Respond
If possible, look up the lyrics for the hymn ‘Let Love Be Real’ by Michael Forster (or even better, listen to it too) and use these words or 1 Corinthians 13 as a prayer.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Isaiah 1,2; 1 Timothy 6
Pray for Scripture Union
Thank God for all the events, missions and holidays this summer, and for the volunteers who served so faithfully. Pray for a fruitful response from the thousands of children and young people who have heard the gospel and seen it in the lives of leaders.
