God, What Do You Want From Me?

Did you know you were created to love and for Love? You can't turn on the radio without hearing something about Love. Many of the most popular songs written are about some form of Love. Deon Jackson sang a song called, "Love Makes the World Go Round" 1. "Loving You", sung by Elvis Presley2. Or how about "Here and Now," sung by Luther Vandross? Hey, thousands of artists and writers are writing Love songs. Oh yeah, don't forget about the romance novels written by many authors. Let's not forget about television and movies that have love themes. And we can't get enough of them. My point is that human beings think about, read about, listen about, and talk about Love all the time. Why? Because our essence feeds from Love. You can look at most adults who have problems today and trace them to something in their childhood about the lack of Love from their parents. What son would do anything to hear their father say, "I'm proud of you, and I love you!"? Every son loves to listen to that. Or what daughter would love to hear from her mother, "I love you"? Even some of the issues in marriage come from the wife feeling as though she isn't loved by her husband. Husbands feel like they are not appreciated and loved by their wives. The list goes on and on.
I'm alluding to the fact that we are human beings that need Love and are created to give Love. But have you ever considered that God who created you needs your Love? Everything that pertains to Love came from God. Everything!
1 John 4:16 (NKJV): "And we have known and believed the Love that God has for us. God is Love, and he who abides in Love abides in God, and God in him." 3
God is Love. His nature is Love. When God created man, saying, "Let Us make man in Our Image, according to Our likeness," Genesis 1:26 (NKJV)4, out from himself came a spirit that was similar to His. His nature is love, which means our nature is love as well.
There is a story in the Old Testament in the Bible that can be shocking to many people. It is somewhat questionable because the average person would not do this. But when I took my time reading the whole story, I began to see the things that God was trying to do. In the book of Hosea, God told Hosea to go find a woman who was a harlot (prostitute) and marry her. You think I'm kidding, right?
Hosea 1:2 (NKJV) "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." 5
Okay, now that I have your attention, I know you're thinking, "WHY would God tell Hosea to go marry a prostitute?". In one translation of the Bible, Hosea's wife is described as a person who is sexually promiscuous and an adulterer. Meaning, not only does this is a person loves sex, but that is her character and there are no plans in changing her behavior. Even the Bible labeled her as a harlot. This woman can't be with one man and chooses to be with many men. She doesn't want to be faithful with one man. So, I ask again, "Why would God tell Hosea to marry a harlot?". Here is another twist to the list of questions. Why would she say yes to getting married, knowing that she would never plan to be faithful to her husband? That is like signing up for a credit loan, knowing you never plan to repay the loan. Isn't that being deceitful, which is another word for lying?
Anyway, why would God ask Hosea to marry a harlot? (Oh yeah, her name is Gomer). God was angry and hurt because of the relationship He had with the children of Israel. The children of Israel strayed away from Him (again) and started doing promiscuous things and unspeakable things against God. They began worshiping the god of Ba'al (Baal). The god of Ba'al was known for fertility, sexuality, and anything pertaining to sex. This religion also required sacrificing children by throwing the babies into fire. There are several gods influenced by Satan that man worshiped, which required sacrificing babies in fire. They were the gods of Ba'al, Molech, and Ashtoreth. God clearly stated this is an abomination and a sin.
Leviticus 18:21 (NLT) "Do not permit any of your children to be offered as a sacrifice to Molech, for you must not bring shame on the name of your God. I am the Lord." 6
Deuteronomy 18:10 (NKJV) "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, "7
Israel got seriously deep into idolatry (worshiping other gods), sexual immorality, and other unspeakable things that hurt God and stirred his anger. God wanted Hosea to understand the hurt that He was feeling when Israel wandered away from Him by marrying a harlot. Strangely, Hosea did love Gomer. But it hurt him deeply when Gomer would openly go out to be with other men sexually. I know you are thinking, "Well, he knew what kind of person she was. So why should he expect anything different?". You are forgetting that Hosea was being obedient to God by marrying Gomer. Once Hosea started to feel hurt inside, he was able to write about the things that God was telling him prophetically about Israel. When you are emotionally hurt, there is a stronger impact on what is written. Hosea was one of God's prophets, and God was trying to warn Israel about His anger and what would happen to their continued apostasy and disobedience.
Now, let me return to the topic. God loves you so much that He wants a relationship with you. He wants you to love Him back as much as He loves you.