When Israel was a Child, I Loved Him...

 Hosea 11:1-4

1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him,

      And out of Egypt I called My son. 

       2 As they called them,

      So they went from them;

      They sacrificed to the Baals, 

      And burned incense to carved images. 

       3 “ I taught Ephraim to walk, 

      Taking them by their arms;

      But they did not know that I healed them. 

       4 I drew them with gentle cords,

      With bands of love, 

      And I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck.

      I stooped and fed them. 

David in Chapter 18 of Second Samuel becomes blinded by his affection for his graceless son , Absalom, whom he “overloves”.  It is not difficult as parents to find ourselves in the same position as David when our children rebel.  We see them through rose-colored glasses and remember them as guileless, small children.  The truth here, however, is very different from the imaginations of David’s grieving heart.  Absalom desired to have David, along with his sons, daughters, wives and concubines murdered.  David’s desire for traitorous Absalom was that he would be spared...that the leaders of his army would deal gently with him!  David’s desire for mercy toward Absalom  was so very misplaced.  Oh, how much at this moment did both these men need God’s wisdom to enlighten their eyes.  David needed it to see Absolom for the traitor that he was and Absalom needed it to preserve himself from his own rebellion and selfish ambition which had left him literally hanging on a tree (accursed) between heaven and earth.  

David’s grief over Absalom reminded me that being a parent has enabled me to share in a small way in not only the love of Christ but also in the fellowship of His sufferings.  Loving a child opens our hearts to much love but also to the possibility of much hurt.  We see in our own desire to show mercy, love and grace to our children, a tiny smidgen of God’s desire to show mercy, love and grace toward us.  We understand a little more about the great love with which He loves us.  We can even understand a little more how He would die for us when we were yet His enemy.  

God used my own experience as a parent (the good, the bad and the ugly) to bring these truths home to my heart.  Through His word to us (me), He enabled me not only to begin to perceive the beauty of sharing in the fellowship of His sufferings but also to grasp an inkling of my Savior’s sacrificial love for me.  Truly this is how we get to know our Lord...by walking in the same path that He walked....by making, as His word says, His footsteps our pathway.  Very often this path is the despised and rejected path, but even that is a good thing because it gives us the opportunity to follow Christ's example. Whatever difficulty and grief we experience here on earth, our Jesus has been there before and is even there now going through it with us. 

 "WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH"; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.  

Here are just a few of the verses of Scripture God used in my life to give me that tiny window into His heart of love for His children.  Read them from the perspective of the Father's heart of love for you and for your children....read them as a mom or a dad thinking on his child and mourning the loss but hoping for the future. Whatever we go through here on this earth as a believer, our God will use to not only draw us closer to Him but also to transform us into His image.

Jeremiah 31:15-22

 15 Thus says the LORD:

      “ A voice was heard in Ramah,

      Lamentation and bitter weeping,

      Rachel weeping for her children,

      Refusing to be comforted for her children,

      Because they are no more.”

16 Thus says the LORD:

      “ Refrain your voice from weeping,

      And your eyes from tears;

      For your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD,

      And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.

       17 There is hope in your future, says the LORD,

      That your children shall come back to their own border.

       18 “ I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself:

      ‘ You have chastised me, and I was chastised,

      Like an untrained bull;

      Restore me, and I will return,

      For You are the LORD my God.

       19 Surely, after my turning, I repented;

      And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh;

      I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated,

      Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’

       20 Is Ephraim My dear son?

      Is he a pleasant child?

      For though I spoke against him,

      I earnestly remember him still;

      Therefore My heart yearns for him;

      I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD.

       21 “ Set up signposts,

      Make landmarks;

      Set your heart toward the highway,

      The way in which you went.

      Turn back, O virgin of Israel,

      Turn back to these your cities.

       22 How long will you gad about,

      O you backsliding daughter?