November 23

Hosea 6:1

Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

The Lord is not like many present day parents who are ineffective, indulgent, and who spoil their children; children who become willful, wayward, delinquent, and throw off all restraint, live together without being married, and have no rule or guide for their conduct except this: what pleases me? What do I want? I WANT TO DO WHAT I WANT TO DO, and I don’t want YOU, or the LORD, or ANYONE ELSE telling me what to do. The results of parents abandoning their God-given role of disciplining and guiding their children are seen in the widespread disregard for honesty, fair dealing, kindness, truth, and morality; that is, THE THINGS THAT MADE AMERICA GREAT, and the absence of which causes the confusion, decay and moral breakdown of our society, which we are painfully witnessing today. IT BEGINS IN THE HOME. But if we belong to the Lord, HE WILL CORRECT US and chastise us when we are wayward, and it is FOR OUR OWN BENEFIT. Today`s verse shows us the proper response to trials. If He has torn, if He has smitten, it is for a reason. He is saying, “Son, you`re on the wrong path. I love you and want you to return to obedience and to a proper relationship with me, to have a life of order, blessing, and fulfillment. The wonder of it all is that He loves us and even desires a close relationship with us. Proof of this is that He sent His Son to die in YOUR place, to die in YOUR stead, to die for YOUR sins so that you might have eternal life. “Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.”

Commentary by Francis L. Harris

"...what must I do to be saved?" Acts 16:30