by Thomas Denegre
How we identify ourselves in life is not done through our performance, but by whom we are through God. What we believe in our heart can bring us either life or death, "for the heart is the wellspring of life." (Proverbs 4:20)
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Take for example a young man named Jacob. Raised as a Christian he sought his identity through his performance lifestyle. Whether it was through sports, religion, or the party scene; popularity was his idol. Drugs and alcohol gripped him early in life. In college he lost two sports scholarships when he flunked a drug test, and then things spiraled downward. As the old saying goes, he was looking for love in all the wrong places. He found short success as a martial arts fighter, but that too failed from drug addiction. Down to 119 pounds his parents found him living in their backyard shed. As Jesus once said, “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.” John 10:10
We find a similar destructive path during the reign of Jeroboam II. The nation of Israel was prosperous, but the people no longer trusted, loved, nor depended on God. Idols took over their hearts. They went into a moral and spiritual decay. Materialism and secularism captured their hearts allowing the full force of their sins to be manifested. If you didn’t know any better, you think the list of sins was from today’s newspapers such as; killing, sexual immorality, lying, drunkenness, perversion, perjury, deceit, swearing, falsehoods, and deceptions. What grieved the heart of God more than anything else was idolatry as they placed their hearts on something else besides God.
At this time God spoke to his prophet Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman named Gomer. The short story is that Hosea fell madly in love with Gomer and had two children. While Hosea prophesied to Israel to return to God, Gomer was left to her own devices by seeking a better life and a new lover. Betrayed by his wife, Hosea felt his heart being ripped away by her rejection and distrust. Similarly, God felt the pains of rejection from his chosen bride, the nation of Israel. While God can be jealous, he is also filled with justice, mercy, and an unstoppable love. He also has a long-term plan.
While humans will naturally want to seek retaliation when they are betrayed, consider what God said through Isaiah.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.’ Isaiah 55:8-9
Hosea never stopped loving Gomer and neither did God stop loving Israel; despite the betrayal. Both were consumed with the love of their bride. Hosea eventually finds Gomer being sold at a slave auction. Clearly, a life of sin put a great downfall on Gomer. Filled with love and compassion, Hosea purchased Gomer for the cheap price of fifteen shekels. In a merciful act of love, Hosea restores Gomer to be his bride, his beloved, and his wife. This is the way of God too.
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Going back to Jacob’s fallen life, his parents had great love and concern for him, so they placed him in a Christian based recovery program. One day Jacob woke up to find 30 men laying hands on him. Just as Gomer was purchased for a price and delivered from bondage, so too was Jacob. The love and the movement of the Holy Spirit touched Jacob’s heart. It was his first experience to taste the authentic love of God. Later, he humbled himself, opened his heart, and truly surrender his life to Jesus. As Jesus once said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)
Just as the relentless love of Hosea rescued Gomer, the divine radical love of Jesus poured mercy and healing into Jacob to transform and restore his life. To complete the final statement, Jesus said, “I came to bring life and bring it abundantly.” John 10:10
Jacob now preaches at recovery centers to spread the authentic hope and love of Jesus. Being the hero of his own story, Jacob carries the identity as a son of God and through love carries the authority of Jesus through his right of inheritance. As Jesus once said, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt: 6:9-10)
By restoring Jacob to be in life union with Jesus, (John 15:7) God not only blesses Jacob to go to heaven, but more importantly to live in that heaven now by living with intimacy and affection with the Lord. Jacob has become a divine instrument of God’s love and affection. For it is written, “Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.” (Proverbs 11:25)
“Therefore, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matt 5:16).
