Wooing the Harlot

This is so strongly in my heart tonight, I had to write it out when it was raw…

We are wooed so fiercely and passionately by a perfect Lover. Yet we so easily ignore the actions that are blatantly displays of His chase. He pursues and calls for us… ‘Return to Me, My precious bride. I love you. Come away with me, my beautiful one, my darling.’ This radiant and ruddy King, who freely loves holding nothing back, is doting on a harlot, an adulterous bride.

Their deeds do not permit them
to return to their God.
A spirit of prostitution is in their heart;
they do not acknowledge the Lord.
Hosea 5:4

We continually chase after other loves that cannot and will never satisfy. We commit this harlotry as we elevate things to take the place of Jesus. Idolatry, prostitution… unaware and oblivious, we let this ravage and desensitize our spirits. We labor in vain trying to fill the void in our souls for love and hope through these lesser things, and on top of that we warrant these behaviors as “normal” because the world tells us it’s okay.

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We are undeserving. Yet still, we are being wooed…

Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the wilderness
and speak tenderly to her.
Hosea 2:14

He woos even with a promise…

I will betroth you to me forever;
I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,
in love and compassion.
Hosea 2:19

I want to respond to His pursuit, with everything that is in me, I want to return to my First Love. I long to hold on to Him, wash and kiss His feet. It’s the very least an undeserving harlot can do in response to a Love so relentlessly consuming.

The “loves” that I have underhandedly chased and allowed into my heart and life to take the place of Jesus are many. The beauty of His love and character though means that when I cease focusing on me, when I turn my eyes and heart back to Him, He takes care of purging these lesser loves… He’s jealous and wants all of me to Himself here, He doesn’t want to share. As I acknowledge and return to Him, He lights up my darkness and washes me clean again.

Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.
Hosea 6:3

I gladly surrender all things that are lesser than Him. As we respond, He reveals even more hidden ‘loves’ that are not Him so He can have more of us. It is beautiful! Who wouldn’t want to be loved this way?

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