devotional post # 2096

Hosea 2:9-13

Hos 2:9 For this reason I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness.
Hos 2:10 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will rescue her from my hand.
Hos 2:11 And I will put an end to all her partying, her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed festivals.
Hos 2:12 And I will spoil her vines and her fig trees, about which she said, ‘These are my wages, which my lovers have given me.’ I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field will devour them.
Hos 2:13 And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares Yahveh.

payday for party time

Israel had been partying as if her relationship with the nations all around her had been the source of all her riches. But God had been the source of all her wealth. Now, God says he is going to take it all away. She would have to pay for all the party time — the time when she should have been testifying of the goodness of God, but failed to acknowledge him. He remembers the times when we forget him.

LORD, show us how to acknowledge your presence in all your presents.