Pathway of Return: Invitation to the Unfaithful

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The book of Hosea provides a poignant picture of God’s heart to be sought after by his wayward people. The prophet Hosea captures this longing by using his own relationship with his adulterous wife Gomer as the lens through which to view God’s heart. Though Gomer kept wandering from fidelity to her husband, Hosea, he repeatedly sought after her and took her back. With this allegory in view, chapter 14 concludes the book with the final appeal to the nation of Israel to depart from their adulterous ways and return to their one “husband”, the true and living God. While the book of Hosea specifically addresses Israel, its depiction of the longing heart of God is true of His regard toward all people for all time.

 How is it possible for Israel to come back to their God, to whom they have been unfaithful? Hosea gives his readers a sample script to follow as a way of expressing their repentant hearts and their desire to enter back into a fully reconciled relationship with God. This sample script may help us as well on our pathway of return.

“Return O Israel, to the Lord your God,

for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

Take with you words and return to the Lord; say to him,

“Take away all iniquity;

accept that which is good,

and we will render the fruit of our lips.” (Hos.14:1,2)

The first element in the script for Israel’s return to the Lord, is to acknowledge their iniquity. The same is true for us as we turn back toward the Lord. “I have sinned. I messed up. I was tempted and stumbled after other ‘lovers’. I may have had my reasons; bad things may have happened in my life. Nevertheless, I turned away from You; You did not leave me. I chose other “gods” instead of You to protect me, to satisfy me, to love me and I am sorry. Please forgive me, please take away all my iniquities.”

A second request that God includes in this script of repentance is an expression of their desire to salvage and restore that which is good. “Though I have made bad choices, I am still your beautiful creation who has been made by You to reflect your glory. You have always known and seen the potential for good to be expressed through me. I want that too. Accept me and revive in me that which is good.” 

The third piece in this declaration of repentance is the pledge to shift all praise, worship and trust to God and God alone. This is the fruit of our lips. Detaching our affections from those things that have captivated us isn’t easy. In Israel’s case, their trust in other nations to save them, other gods to deliver them from their enemies and their own self- reliance, had become their objects of worship. This is a statement of intention, and purpose to speak and live to honor God as truly God.

Assyria shall not save us,

We will not ride upon horses;

And we will say no more, ’Our God’ to the work of our hands.

In you the orphan finds mercy.”

Israel’s departure from dependence upon God took place in ways that are relatable even for us today. When threatened by their enemies, Israel’s temptation was to form alliances with the superpowers of that time, Assyria and Egypt, for protection rather than turning toward God and asking Him for wisdom and provision for their protection. We can relate. It can seem safer to put our trust in those things that we can see, the government, our justice system, world leaders, weapons, armies, technological prowess, our investments, ChatGPT, than to seek first the invisible God’s presence, wisdom and will.

When no longer threatened by enemies such that Israel felt secure, they resorted to trust in the work of their own hands. They made their own abilities, institutions, and blessings into objects of worship; idols. We still do this today, whether they be idols of religiosity or of wealth,  idolizing success or fame or status,  idols of knowledge, or accomplishment or work, idols of comfort, entertainment or sports, idols of self-actualization, sexual or romantic fulfillment.

These other “lovers”, the powers in whom we place our trust or the gods of our own making, have left everyone who devoted themselves to these, orphaned; they are unable to fill and fulfill as only God can.  God nevertheless extends his merciful invitation to gather up orphaned souls . God’s response to Israel or Gomer (Hosea’s wife) or to anyone who recognizes that they are an orphan and answers His call to return, anyone who comes in sincere contrition and repentance, is as follows:

I will heal their faithlessness;

I will love them freely;

For my anger has turned from them.

I will be as dew to Israel…

They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow,

They shall flourish like a garden… (Hos.14:4,5,7)

The pathway that is laid out in Hosea 14 is an open invitation from the God whose love is unfailing. He extends His arms to not only to welcome you back, but to heal, love, embrace, accept and restore to flourishing. The invitation can be summarized and simplified as follows:

Return to the Lord your God – He eagerly waits for you to come back to Him.

Take with you words – He longs to hear your words expressed from your heart; simple, humble and sincere.

Take away all iniquity – Please forgive me God, I have sinned against you. Please take this desire to sin away.

Accept what is good – Restore me, your dear child, whom you beautifully created for good purposes in this world.

Assyria will not save me – People and powers are not my savior; You are.

Horses will not save me – Technology, military protection, financial strength, human power, social status are not my security; I trust in You.

The works of my hands will not save me – False gods of my own making, false spiritual beliefs and practices will not lead me into life; You are the source of my life.

Have mercy on me, an orphaned child – None of these are worthy of my trust or of my affection. They will abandon me, leaving me bereft of abundant life, steadfast love and everlasting salvation. Have mercy on me.

In reply God says,

I will heal your waywardness by leading you back on paths of healing truth.

I will love you freely and I will help you to believe in my complete and total forgiveness and my deep secure love.

It is I who answers and looks after you, so trust in Me to lead your life.

My ways as revealed through the Bible are true and lead you to freedom and life, even though they may run counter to the ways of this world. Believe my Word.

                       Walk with Me from now on in Spirit and in truth out of your love for Me and trust 

in Me.

Can you relate to the ways that Israel wandered away from their God?

When threatened by fearful or difficult circumstances, what did you run to for protection?

When secure and prosperous, what did you fill your time with; what did you spend your money on; what did you invest your energy in; and to what did you bring your devotion?

How have the things that you have trusted for protection or satisfaction fulfilled you?

How have they orphaned you?

What keeps you from turning back to God?

Have you talked to Him about that?

Are you surprised by God’s invitation to be restored? 

What iniquities are you asking God to take away?

Are you trusting in Him to heal your waywardness?

Do you believe in His pledge to love you freely?

Would you be willing to use elements of this script to begin a conversation with God about where you are at?

His invitation is for you. Hosea completes his book with this final appeal.

What have I to do with idols?

It is I who answer and look after you.

I am like an evergreen cyprus;

From me comes your fruit.

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;

whoever is discerning, let him know them;

for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them,

but transgressors stumble in them. Hosea 14:8,9

Pathways to Return: An Invitation to the Marginalized

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Coming to the Lord for the first time, or returning to the Lord after a season of walking away is difficult. There are reasons why you decided not to consider what Jesus offers. There are reasons why you have drifted from your faith in Him. But perhaps you are sensing a stirring. Perhaps it is time to come closer to hear what Jesus might want to say to you. Let’s consider together the pathway of a potential returnee by looking at the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman as recorded in John 4.

This encounter reveals that Jesus knew the stirrings and longings that lay below the surface of this woman’s heart even before she recognized them in herself.

She is thirsty. 

Coming to the well in the heat of the day was a demanding chore, but physical thirst and the need for water compel her. Jesus’ request for water opens a discussion that speaks to the reality that thirst and water are not merely physical. Isn’t the need to draw water emblematic of something more? Aren’t the needs of her soul and spirit crying out to be quenched as well?

“Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.’” John 4:14,15 

Jesus, seeing her physical thirst, appeals to her thirsty soul, thirsty for truth, thirsty for belonging, thirsty for love, thirsty for God. 

She is thirsty for acceptance.

Why is she at the well in the heat of the day? Because she would rather endure the harsh midday temperatures than the harsh taunts of the other women who came to draw water in the cool of the day. She is an outcast among her peers. Did that matter to Jesus? No and yes. 

“Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband.’, for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband.’” Jn 4:16,17

Not only is she rejected by the women of the community for her disreputable lifestyle, but it appears that she is rejected by men as well. In Samaritan culture at that time, women did not divorce men, men divorced women. Why did five men divorce her? And who is this sixth man with whom she is living? We do not know, but does it matter? She is continuing to thirst after belonging and acceptance from sources that will never truly satisfy. 

But why would Jesus ask her this embarrassing question? Is he trying to shame her or guilt her by exposing her past and present indiscretions? Jesus is the truth therefore coming to him in pretense never works. But just as he did with this woman, he meets us and engages with us in truth, even in the midst of our mess and mess ups, not to shame us, not to coddle us, not to humiliate us or vent his anger upon us, but to lead us to repentance, forgiveness and freedom. It is his love for this woman that would expose this uncomfortable truth in order to set her free from rejection, free from guilt, free from shame, truly free. 

She is thirsty for true worship. 

Confused and backpedaling, sensing that she is in the presence of a holy man, perhaps even a prophet, she shifts the conversation toward the proper place to worship. While this may seem like a diversion from focus on her past and present, Jesus perceives something else, her desire to be in a right relationship with God.

“Dear woman, the hour is coming and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” Jn.4:23

Undoubtedly these words brought the true thirst of her heart to the surface. Father God? Seeking people? Spirit and truth? Could I, in spite of all I have done, be one for whom Father God might be seeking? 

It is all a bit too much to take in. Who is this man? How does he know all about me? Why is he offering me living water? Why is he speaking to me about God as a Father who isn’t concerned about the proper location of worship but the heart, spirit and truth? There is only One who can make sense of all of this.

“The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called the Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”

Her thirst for truth, for acceptance, for being reconciled to God is now evident even to herself.  “My hope is in Messiah who can redeem a life like mine and make me into one of those worshipers that the Father is seeking after”, was undoubtedly what she was thinking.

“Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am he.’” Jn.4:26

And what is this woman’s response? She left her water jar and ran into town telling people, the very people who shunned and rejected her, “Come and see, could this be the Christ?”

A shift has already taken place. Physical thirst and thirst for belonging and acceptance have inexplicably been satisfied by her encounter with the man who gives living water.

How can we summarize the pathway that Jesus guided this woman on as she turned to God?

  • Jesus helped her recognize that she is physically, emotionally and spiritually thirsty.
  • Jesus identified himself as the one who could satisfy that thirst.
  • He unmasks the truth about her past and present life.
  • He speaks about God as the Father who is seeking people to worship him.
  • He discloses his true identity as the Messiah, the One for whom she has waited.

What a beautiful encounter. Tender and yet truthful. 

How might this relate to your journey? 

Do you recognize that your soul and spirit are thirsty ?

Have you gone to well after well to try to satisfy that thirst?

Is there something in your life that keeps you from coming to Jesus?

Can you let Him tell you what he already knows about your life?

Are you afraid that he will condemn you or reject you?

Have you tried to please God by being a good person, by going to church, by doing good deeds to make up for what you wish you hadn’t done?

Do you know that the Father is seeking people to worship him? He is seeking you?

Do you believe that Jesus is waiting at the well to talk to you about the gift of God, about himself as the Messiah who gives living water?

Are you willing to leave your water jar behind – whatever that water jar might represent in your life?

Are you willing to risk rejection and bring to the very people who have rejected you, the Messiah who has “told me all that I ever did”? 

This is one among many pathways to return to Jesus.

“In returning and rest you shall be saved In quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” Isa.30:15