The consequences of neglecting to know God
May 8, 2026Hos 4:1-19 It is sometimes observed in spouses that after a long marriage they start to look alike. It is not that their bone structure dramatically changes but in their love for each other they may mirror and take on the other’s facial expressions and little gestures. A harmonious relationship also brings with it deeper changes as two individuals adjust to each other’s perspectives and habits in subtle ways until what emerges is not two distinct entities but a unity. This does not mean mindless agreement but a common foundation of convictions and purpose. Such a couple is like a…
The high cost God pays for loving us
Hos 3:1-5 Most of us would have had some experience of someone we trusted, whether a family member, friend or colleague, betray us or cause us harm. In such a situation, we may just want to cut the person who…
The God who can heal our unfaithfulness
Hos 2:14-23 When I was teaching at Bible college, a student of mine finishing his training for pastoral ministry was speaking at the last chapel service of the year. He described how he had drifted from God a year or…
How does God bring about genuine transformation?
Hos 2:2-13 I recently listened to an interview about our hurried lives and our relationship to time. The interviewee’s advice in the first instance was to look at what motivates us to be busy, why we feel that we constantly…
The marvel of the tenacious grace of God
Hos 1:10-11; 2:1 Before I studied theology, I used to be puzzled by the abrupt transitions in prophetic books. It made no sense to me that a prophet would thunder with harsh words of denunciation one moment only to follow…
Why God’s love should not be taken in vain
Hosea 1:1-9 One of my younger students at Bible college/seminary described his youth group in a discussion. He said members in the group knew little about what was in the Bible, apart from a few gospel stories and have never…
Introduction to Hosea
I am taking a break from the Book of Kings to reflect on Hosea, who prophesied around the last 30 years of Israel before they went into Assyrian captivity. Since we have just covered this period in Kings, I thought…
What makes for an effective witness about God
2 Kings 17:24-41 I have an old print that I bought during my gap year in Israel when I fell in love with an original painting that I saw in an artist’s shop. Since I could not afford the real…
How sin empties us out and the choice we face
2 Kings 17:1-23 I have mentioned on this blog C.S. Lewis’ imaginative treatment of heaven and hell in The Great Divorce, as busloads of hell-dwellers get a chance to visit heaven. These people experience heaven as a beautiful but unbearably…
The parting of the sea: God makes a way
Exod 14:5-31; Rom 6:1-7 In the church where I came to faith, the cross loomed so large in the teaching about redemption through Jesus’ death that the resurrection seemed almost an afterthought. It took me a few years to appreciate…
The meaning of the Passover: Christ our Passover Lamb
Exod 12:1-13; Matt 26:17-19, 26-29 Increasingly today, family members no longer eat together but consume their meals in their different corners, watching television or being absorbed by their phones. There is something so sad about this, as gathering around a…