When the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea: "Go, take
yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has
committed great harlotry by departing from the LORD." Hosea 1:2
God commanded Hosea to marry a prostitute. This definitely would have been a very difficult command for him, yet, he did as he was commanded. God does not only require us to do things that are pleasurable, He sometimes asks us to do things that are not convenient for us, yet, He requires full obedience. Hosea certainly had to look away from how he felt to be able to do what God required of him. The same is true for us, if we don't look away from how we feel about what God commands us to do, we will fail to obey Him.
We learn from Hosea that obeying God is not contingent upon how we feel, but the worthiness of God to receive obedience from us. Our feelings will always go against our obeying the command of God. Obeying God is a matter of our will rather than our emotions. We must will, whether it suits our emotions or not, to do what God commands whether it feels fair or not. Obeying God is not about fairness, it is about what is right, and what is always right is to do what God says.
Toni
God commanded Hosea to marry a prostitute. This definitely would have been a very difficult command for him, yet, he did as he was commanded. God does not only require us to do things that are pleasurable, He sometimes asks us to do things that are not convenient for us, yet, He requires full obedience. Hosea certainly had to look away from how he felt to be able to do what God required of him. The same is true for us, if we don't look away from how we feel about what God commands us to do, we will fail to obey Him.
We learn from Hosea that obeying God is not contingent upon how we feel, but the worthiness of God to receive obedience from us. Our feelings will always go against our obeying the command of God. Obeying God is a matter of our will rather than our emotions. We must will, whether it suits our emotions or not, to do what God commands whether it feels fair or not. Obeying God is not about fairness, it is about what is right, and what is always right is to do what God says.
Toni
