Tag: reconciliation

A Short Appeal

Philemon

Devotion by Jenn Haynes (Ohio)

I’m amazed at how the book of Philemon came to be included in the Bible. I mean, this is a personal letter from one man to another. It wasn’t addressed to a group. And it was giving a simple, short message. It was just a note, really. But sometimes short and to the point is what we need, especially when the message is as radical as what Paul says to Philemon. 

In this short letter, we see people in three positions in which every one of us has probably found ourselves. 

We have Paul, who shows us how to encourage others towards love and forgiveness. He encourages Philemon not only to forgive Onesimus, but to accept him as a brother. And Paul does this with such love and gentleness. Paul reminds Philemon of their bond and implores him to show love to Onesimus and treat him as he would treat Paul. And he says that whatever debt that Philemon still feels Onesimus owes, should be considered Paul’s debt instead. Paul is showing us how to be Jesus to others. 

Then we have Philemon, the wronged party. We’ve all been hurt by someone before and we see here how we should handle it – with love, grace, and forgiveness, just as Christ showed us. And Paul knows that’s hard. When you’ve been wronged and hurt, it’s hard to let that go. But here Paul asks us to not only forgive, but to also love the one who hurt us, just as Christ loves us. 

Finally we have the one I think we can relate to the most: Onesimus. Onesimus has run from the one he wronged, and Paul knows that it isn’t enough to ask for forgiveness from afar. He sends Onesimus back to Philemon to do the hard thing. He sends him back to reconcile. Making things right is uncomfortable and even painful. But Paul knows that it must be done for true healing. We have all been Onesimus. We have all needed forgiveness. 

And what these three thankfully have in common is that they are all saved by Christ and they are no longer what they once were. Their relationship is new. They aren’t slave and master or teacher and student. They are equal brothers in Christ. 

Reflection questions: 

When have you been Philemon lately? Is there anyone you’re struggling to forgive? 

When have you been Onesimus? With whom should you be reconciling? 

How can you remind others of Christ through your speech and your example, just as Paul does here? 

Prayer:

I pray that you don’t let awkwardness or hurt or unforgiveness stand in the way of your relationships with other believers. I pray we are united in an effort to spread the gospel message to the world by showing others the power of love and forgiveness. 

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Reconciliation

2 Samuel 13-15

Have you ever been in a conflict where you feel extremely wronged in a situation? Everyone is like yes and amen. The story of our lives. Haha. Now secretly, to a really close friend you may be able to admit that you also did some wrong stuff, too; but there ain’t no way that anyone else is finding out about that. In fact, to all your friends you portray yourself as something resembling Jesus in the situation. I hope that you aren’t so disillusioned that you actually believe this has never happened to you. We really enjoy this social feedback loop.

There are other situations that come up in life where you have a single incident and then everything spirals out of control and that one incident ends up messing up everything in that relationship. I have totally had one of those.

It seems that there is nothing new under the sun because that is exactly what has happened with Absalom and David. The worst and most ridiculous thing about this story is that the catalyst to this relational tension didn’t even involve them. As you’ve read, this caused years of tension and problems and separation between father and son.

I am not going to speculate on whether David was right in not sentencing Amnon to death after rapping Tamar or whether Absalom should have killed his brother. There comes a certain point at which what has happened in life has happened. There is nothing you can do to change it and now you just need to live your life with the future in mind. In most of these cases keeping the tension and the bad blood in the relationship isn’t profitable to our own spiritual health and doesn’t promote godliness.

The section of today’s reading that I would like to discuss is 2 Samuel 13.37-39 and 2 Samuel 14.21-24, 28.  After Absalom killed Amnon, in worry and anxiety he fled to Geshur. It says that David mourned for his son in 2 Samuel 13.37. I am not sure which son he was mourning for but I believe that given the context of the paragraph and the verses around it the verse is telling us that David mourned for Absalom. This is also supported by v.39 where David says he longed to go out to Absalom. So why didn’t he?

David didn’t go out to seek his son Absalom, even though, he wanted to. He left him out in Geshur for 3 years. In fact, it wasn’t even David’s prompting that brought him back. Joab had to step in as mediator and be the counselor in this situation for Absalom to return. I think the responsibility falls on David to take the initiative to mend the relationship with his son instead of just leaving the situation in the wind. David essentially stuck his head in the sand and ignored the problem. Ultimately, this just caused problems between David and Absalom later on.

Finally, after Joab’s prompting David brings Absalom back to Jerusalem but tells Joab that Absalom can’t enter his presence. Absalom spends 2 years in Jerusalem before any action is taken in this relationship and the initiative once again wasn’t taken by David. It took Absalom saying it would have been better if I hadn’t left Geshur than to live like this and I would rather just have David do to me what seems right to him. Absalom hit the point where he would rather die if he had any guilt in him than live with this relational separation.

Surveying this whole situation, we see problems on both sides but I think the judgement ultimately lies with David. He took none of the initiative to repair this relationship. There is a real danger to leaving things unsaid that should have been said. I believe David’s longing to see his son at Geshur should have moved him to take action and confront the problems in relationship instead of just waiting. David longed for his son but out of pride or anger or stubbornness didn’t take the initiative to reconcile with Absalom.

When you consider the intensity of distress Absalom must have felt at the tension and loss of relationship that he would be willing to die if he had any guilt it is obvious that this weighed heavily on him. The two men’s reconciliation is sweet but was so long overdue that I think irreversible damage was done to the relationship given what happens in Chapter 15.

So, what can we draw from this? Firstly, to not let our conflicts go on forever. Secondly, when it is on your heart to apologize or you are longing for someone who you are in conflict with, it may be God working on your heart to repair the relationship. Thirdly, get a mediator or a counselor involved if needed. Don’t wait until someone else feels like something needs to be done. Fourthly, you are responsible for taking the initiative to reconcile or apologize for what you have done. Fifthly, don’t be afraid to let someone have the ability to go second. In this final scene where Absalom goes to his father, his father embraced him and kissed him. I have a feeling that David had longed for this moment. I can remember a moment in my relationship with my wife where we were in conflict and I had my defenses up to keep myself from over apologizing or taking too much of the blame. I remember so vividly her apologizing first and immediately all the weight was lifted, my defenses dropped, and I was no longer looking out for myself but I was looking for the good of the relationship. It gave me the freedom to really say the things I wanted to say when, at first, I may have even been hostile.

Finally, our relationships will only be as good as our communication in them. Remember it is wise to address conflicts as soon as possible. Do not leave things unsaid or problems unaddressed. They don’t just go away.

Daniel Wall

(originally posted May 14, 2020 for SeekGrowLove)

Reflection Questions

  1. How do you typically deal with conflict with someone close to you? What are the advantages and disadvantages to this approach? What would be better?
  2. What is the best response to our own sin? What is the best response to someone else’s sin?
  3. What was Joab’s role? How did he do it? Do you think God was pleased with Joab?
  4. Is there a situation where you might be able to help work towards reconciliation? (first in your own life, and then perhaps in someone else’s)
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In the Spirit – OR – in the Flesh

Old Testament: 2 Samuel 12

Poetry: Proverbs 1

New Testament: Galatians 5:24-26

In 2 Samuel 12 we read all about how King David is rebuked for his sinful ways and the real consequences he would suffer as a result of his sin. 

9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. 

Proverbs 1:31 from today’s reading gives us a sobering reminder of what happens when we choose to be ruled by the flesh rather than by the Spirit.


“So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way

And be satiated with their own devices. (NASB 1995)

If we want to avoid disastrous consequences brought on by sin, Galatians 5 gives us some sound advice:

24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 

Proverbs 1:7 further instructs us on how to live wisely:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

Fools despise wisdom and instruction. (NASB 1995)

The Bible is full of examples from which we can learn. Sometimes I read the story of David and think how on earth could he do those things, but then I quickly remember that saying, “As soon as you point a finger at someone, you have four fingers pointing right back at you.” God’s word is a mirror for our hearts. If we are left to our own devices and follow the ways of our flesh, disastrous consequences inevitably ensue. We must make a conscious choice to live and walk by the Spirit. The good news is that we are not irredeemable if we have been led astray by our flesh at one point. The story wasn’t over for David and it doesn’t have to be over for us. We can make that choice to reconcile with God and we can be assured by the parables of the prodigal son and the lost sheep that He will welcome us with open arms. Your story is not over while you still have breath. If you’ve walked away from God, please know His heart yearns for you to return to Him and He will welcome you back with loving arms. The choice is up to you.

Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Did you notice that nothing can cause God not to love us? God forgave King David and He can certainly forgive you.

-Kristy Cisneros

Reflection Questions

  1. What consequences for sin have you experienced or are you still experiencing? What would you recommend to someone (including yourself) contemplating the sin which brought the consequences?
  2. What role did Nathan play in 2 Samuel 12? Who sent him to David and why? As uncomfortable as it may seem, is there someone God wants to send you to?
  3. Living by the flesh or living by the Spirit – what are the pros and cons of each? Which will win in your life?
  4. What does reconciliation with God look like in your life? What blessings did David receive after his sin and reconciliation? What blessings have you received after sin and reconciliation? How would you describe God’s love?
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Turn to Forgive

Old Testament: Ruth 2

Poetry: Psalms 62 (again-what do you notice, today?)

New Testament: 2 Corinthians 2

In 2 Corinthians 2 Paul teaches us how we should forgive as Christians. Paul expresses the idea that the people who grieved him should not be met with revenge, but instead with reconciliation.

“Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.”

Unfortunately, some Christians today have a false definition of forgiveness. We have all heard the saying “I can forgive, but I can’t forget”. When you forgive someone, you don’t keep track of their wrongdoings. This is a way we show love as Christians. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 states:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs”

Why is Paul so willing to practice forgiveness? It’s because he has been forgiven by God through Jesus. When we feel it’s “too hard” to forgive someone we have to remember how often we are forgiven ourselves.

Forgiveness needs to become part of our new nature. As image bearers of God, we need to become forgiving like God is. We need to recognize that forgiveness is part of God’s nature (Exodus 34:6-7), just as many people in the Bible recognized that God’s nature was forgiving (Numbers 14:17-19). If God is forgiveness we need to be forgiving. Forgiveness was the mission of Jesus Christ, let that be our mission as well.

-Brooke Cisneros

Reflection Questions

  1. When have you forgiven someone else? How did that make you feel?
  2. What is the problem with unforgiveness? What is the connection between unforgiveness and being “outwitted by Satan”? (see verse 11)
  3. Explain how God has forgiven. Have you accepted His forgiveness through accepting His Son? If so, how can you pass forgiveness on to others? If not, why not?
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Arise, Lord!

Old Testament: Jeremiah 11 & 12

Poetry: Proverbs 9

New Testament: 1 Peter 1

And, since there is never a wrong Bible passage to read and discuss on any given day, today’s devotion will be over Psalm 9.

For quite some time, the headlines of news reports have involved some form of injustice taking place in the world. Human trafficking is finally getting the attention needed to address the problem, but it is still very much an epidemic that needs to be solved. Racial discrimination has received national attention for various reasons, and is one that Christians who believe that we are “all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28) take very seriously. Poverty in many third-world countries (and some first-world countries) remains a constant issue that governments have been unable to correct. For all the wrong done in this world, and has gone wrong since mankind fell in the Garden, there is an ultimate answer to put our hope in: our heavenly Father’s justice.

Our reading in Psalm 9 today tells us what God is going to do when the end of this age comes: judge the world in righteousness (v. 7-9). When our heavenly Father intervenes in the last days, He is going to do something about the injustices that many suffer from. He is going to favor those who have been oppressed, those who were powerless to do anything, and those who are the poorest among us. This tells us that our heavenly Father values each and every person on earth, seeing the injustice that they suffer from as a personal attack on what He has created. Every individual on earth is made in His image (Genesis 1:26-28), and they should be treated as such by our leading figures, and especially by us as followers of Jesus Christ.

There is a warning here in this passage: you don’t want to be on the other side of the Great Judgment coming in the end. Those who are the oppressors and abusers should take heed; they are in serious danger if they don’t change and repent. This should strike a healthy amount of fear into our hearts, if we have people around us who we have wronged (v. 20). Jesus warns us that we need to reconcile differences with others before the End comes, or we have some dangerous things waiting for us (Matthew 5:21-26).

Brothers and sisters, let today be a challenge to you to do two things: reconcile with anyone you may have wronged, and stand up for those who are being unjustly oppressed. It could be as simple as a classmate who is being bullied; stand up for them and help them. It could be a co-worker that is being treated unfairly by a boss; stand up for them and help them. Because when we help the “least of these”, we are ultimately helping Jesus (Matthew 25:40).

-Talon Paul

Reflection Questions

  1. How important is justice to you? How have you and can you be a part of seeking justice for the oppressed? How important is justice to God? How has He and will He show His righteous justice?
  2. Prayerfully consider who you need to reconcile with and then do it.
  3. This devotion was written before the events of this past weekend – the attacks on Israel. How does it relate and what are your thoughts and feelings after reading Psalm 9? Pray for Israel and for God’s intervention and righteous judgment. Come, Lord Jesus, Come and do the work your Father has prepared for you.
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The Good News

Old Testament: 1 Chron 4-6

Poetry: Ps. 141

New Testament: Colossians 1

Last year, the young adults at my church went through an in-depth study of the gospel. We discussed what the gospel is and why it is so important to be able to “give an answer for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15). What is your understanding of the gospel? Go ahead a pause for a minute and try to sum up what you think the gospel is in a few sentences. 

It’s important to be able to quickly and succinctly sum up what the gospel is. Yes, we can go deeper in our theology. Some things about our Christian walk take a whole life time of wisdom to be able to truly understand. However, when it comes to the basic building blocks of our faith, we need to have an answer for it. We need to understand what we believe. This is the first step towards spiritual maturity. 

In today’s reading, Paul begins his letter to the Colossian church. He give thanks to God for the people in the church and then describes to them why Christ should be so highly esteemed. This passage is a good go-to passage for understanding what the gospel is. Paul begins in Colossians 1:18-20, “And [Jesus] is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was please to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” The gospel, or good news, is the reconciling of us to God through the blood of Jesus. Jesus’ sacrifice made peace between God and man. Not only that, the gospel also points to our hope. Jesus was the firstborn from the dead. His resurrection is proof and assurance of our future resurrection. 

Paul goes on to describe how the gospel changes us in verses 21-22. He says, “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.” When we were not reconciled, we lived doing evil deeds. We were in darkness. Because we have been justified before God, we also can be sanctified. This is the process of being made holy, blameless, and above reproach before God. We are learning how to be made righteous, be made perfect. This is a process that takes a lifetime. The gospel changes everything about us, maybe not right away – but instead through consistently trying to live for God in the best way we can. 

This is why it is so important to understand the gospel and be committed to living for God throughout our life. We will be sanctified “if indeed [we] continue in the fath, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that [we] heard” (v. 23). Hold fast to the one who saves! 

~ Cayce Fletcher

You can read more devotions and studies written by Cayce Fletcher at amorebeautifullifecollective.com. 

Reflection Questions: 

  1. What is your understanding of the gospel? Write down a 1-3 sentence description of what the gospel is.  
  2. Using your understanding of the Old Testament, why was Jesus’ sacrifice necessary to justify us before God?   
  3. What has the gospel changed in your life?   

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The Heart of Christ

Matthew 9

January 9

I believe Matthew 9 gives us an excellent glimpse into the heart of Christ.  Let’s start at the end of the chapter.  Matthew 9:36 tells us, “When he [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Remember these crowds were filled with tax collectors and sinners – people rejected by polite society – people rejected by the religious leaders of the day.  And yet Jesus’ first instinct was that of compassion.  To understand the significance of this, let’s remember that Jesus was the only sinless person ever to walk the face of the earth.  One would naturally think that whatever sins cause us (sinful people) to cringe, would cause Jesus to be horrified.  And yet Jesus had compassion because the people coming to him were harassed and helpless.

If we now back up to Matthew 9:35, we see what he did because of his compassion, “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.”  Jesus was interested in helping these people who were helpless in and of themselves.  He first met their most basic need – their spiritual need – the need to be reconciled with God – by preaching the good news of the kingdom of God.  If all Jesus cared about was people’s salvation, I suspect he would have stopped there.  But in addition to preaching and teaching, he healed every disease and sickness.  This again points out that Jesus was deeply concerned with the people themselves, and cared about what the people cared about – and solved the problems they faced.  The only explanation is that Jesus genuinely loved these “unlovable” people.

Let’s look at some of the other stories in this chapter.  The chapter begins with some men bringing a paralytic to Jesus.  Jesus was so eager to help the man, he didn’t wait for anyone else to even speak, and just jumped in with, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” – almost as if Jesus just couldn’t wait to help the man.  Jesus jumped right to the most important problem – reconciling this man to God.  Then, to prove he had authority to forgive sins, he demonstrated his power again by completely healing the man.  The crowds were in awe, and praised God.

The next section talks about Jesus’ calling Matthew, a tax collector, to follow him.  Jesus didn’t only tolerate those society rejected, he actively sought them out.  It was at Matthew’s house that Jesus’ enemies accused him of eating (coming in close fellowship with) tax collectors and sinners.  Jesus’ response, in Matthew 9:12-13 was, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’  For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Mercy.  God desires mercy, and Jesus was demonstrating it.  And I would argue that one cannot really demonstrate mercy without first loving the target of that mercy.

The chapter goes on to detail other miracles, including raising a dead girl back to life, healing a woman who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years, and healing two blind men.  All in addition to the summary at the end, saying that he healed every disease and sickness throughout all their towns and villages.

For me, if I had to define Jesus with a single word, based on this chapter, that word would be Love.  Love we can’t even fully comprehend.  God-like love.  

1 John 4:16 says, “… God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in Him.”

John 5:19 tells us, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can only do what he sees his father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”

-Steve Mattison

Questions for reflection & Discussion

  1. Does Jesus care about the things that concern you?  (Hint:  read Matthew 11:28-30)
  2. If Jesus loved the people of his day, how much must he love you?  
  3. How has he demonstrated his love to you?  
  4. What is your response?
  5. If Christians are supposed to “imitate Christ” what would that look like in your life? (Hint: read John 13:34, Philippians 2:3-8, 1 John 2:6)
  6. How are you measuring up?
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Get Right with God

Micah 5-7

Many people point to Micah 6:8 as a simple, straightforward verse telling us how to get right with God:   Micah 6:8: “He has shown you, O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  

Let’s look at this in context.

Micah 6 starts out as a courtroom scene.  “Plead your case”… “For the Lord has a case against his people”.  God then reminded His people of the things He had done for them including leading them out of Egypt, protecting them from Balaam’s cursing them, and leading them into the promised land.

We might pause here to remind ourselves how the Israelites reacted to each of God’s protections that He pointed out to them here.  

  1. He led them out of Egypt to be His people, but they grumbled repeatedly, wanting to go back to Egypt; worshiped a golden calf; and didn’t trust that God could bring them into the promised land – so they had to wander in the desert for 40 years.
  2. He caused Balaam to bless Israel instead of cursing them.  This was a spiritual battle God was fighting on their behalf, without them even knowing about it.  Their response was to sin sexually with Moab’s women and worship Moab’s gods – so God sent a plague and killed many of the Israelites.
  3. He caused the Jordan River (at flood stage) to dry up, letting the Israelites cross on dry ground.  This was reminiscent of what He had done for the Israelites when they had left Egypt 40 years earlier.  God had done for Israel what they could not have done for themselves – but the people didn’t remember all the righteous acts God had done for them, and turned away again and again.

In Micah 6:6-7, we see that things we do can’t reconcile us to God, including bowing down to Him (presumably in hollow worship), performing sacrifices (remember that to obey is better than sacrifice), even sacrificing things most precious to us – including our children.  None of these things can reconcile us to God.

Then, we find the beautiful verse of what God really wants.  Not religious ceremonies, but moral and ethical conduct – “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

None of us can do these things until we first submit to God as broken sinners and allow Him to transform our lives.  We can only act justly once we have been justified.  We can only love mercy (and extend it to others) once we have experienced and recognized God’s mercy.  We can only walk humbly with our God after we bow humbly before Him, confess our sins, and claim his promise of forgiveness (I John 1:9).

Titus 3:5 reminds us, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.”  So people are misguided if they think they can follow this formula from Micah 6:8 to be saved.  It’s only because of our saving relationship with God that we can do what He requires in Micah 6:8.

As we continue reading Micah, we see that Israel hasn’t lived up to God’s requirements, so in 6:13, He says, “Therefore, I have begun to destroy you, to ruin you because of your sins.”  If God treated Israel this way, and if God doesn’t change, I’ll let you consider for yourself the implications for you and the implications for our nation.

Micah 7:13 is pointing to a time still in the future to us, when “the earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the result of their deeds.”

But the last 3 verses of Micah remind us of who God is and what He has done in the past. 

Micah 7:18-20: “18 Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?  You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.

19  You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

20 You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.”

To quote Warren Wiersbe from his Bible commentary, “the better we know the character of God, the more we can trust Him for the future.  The better we know the promises and covenants of God, the more peace we will have in our hearts when things fall apart.”

In closing, 

  1. We need to recognize we can never measure up to God’s requirements on our own.  
  2. We need to humbly come to God as broken sinners, confessing our sins, and asking for His forgiveness.  
  3. We need to remember who He is, what He has done in the past, and what promises He has made for the future.  
  4. We then need to develop a deep personal relationship with God.  

Only then can we “be imitators of God as dearly loved children” (Ephesians 5:1).  And only then can we live a life acceptable to God – “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

-Steve Mattison

Read or listen to today’s Bible reading plan passages at Bible Gateway.com here – Micah 5-7 and Revelation 10

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Hosea 1-7

For I desire loyalty and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

When we think about the faithfulness of God, we tend to speak in terms that I would call fluff in the papers I grade in my English classes. We always say that we have a faithful God, but what does that really mean? When we describe the faithfulness of God and his faithful love, we can easily let these tired terms cause the meaning to get lost. Today’s reading snaps the striking, relentless love of God into sharp focus. In the book of Hosea, the prophet Hosea is commanded to marry a prostitute, named Gomer. She continues to be unfaithful to him, but Hosea is told to return to her each time. The relationship that Hosea has with Gomer is one that mirrors the prodigal love that God shows to the northern Kingdom of Israel. Israel pursues other gods and kingdoms, but despite this, God still calls them back to him. He still loves them. 

When I read these stories, I always question the characters’ motives. Couldn’t Gomer see how much Hosea loved her by the fact that he was always there for her? Why would she pursue other people? Hosea 2 gives insight to her reasoning. In Hosea 2:5, it says that Gomer would pursue other men because she thought they would give her “my food and water, my wool and flax, my oil and drink.” She pursued these men, because she thought they would give her what she needed to survive. Notably, these things are the basics of what she might need to live comfortably. Out of a lack of trust, she did not realize that she was actually missing out on the best things, because she was turning to these men to fulfill her desire for provision and possessions. In verse 8, it says, “She does not recognize that it is I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil. I lavished silver and gold on her, which they used for Baal.” Gomer never realized that the person who would take the best care of her and give her the best things was the person that she continued to leave for other men, Hosea. 

Too often, we follow in the footsteps of Gomer and Israel. We pursue other gods that seem like they could give us satisfaction and comfort, like our families, boy/girlfriends, work, money, education, or our beliefs and ideologies. We don’t recognize that the best things in our life actually come from the one who we continue to leave behind, God. James 1:17 says, “Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” God will continue to give us the best things in life, but we need to turn back to him. Don’t turn to other idols. God is infinitely better than anything the world could offer. 

~ Cayce Fletcher

 

Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to on Bible Gateway – Hosea 1-7.

Tomorrow, we continue reading about the history of Judah and Israel in Hosea 8-14 – as we continue the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan.

Repairing Relationships

2 Samuel 13-15

2 Samuel 14 14 NIV sgl

Have you ever been in a conflict where you feel extremely wronged in a situation? Everyone is like yes and amen. The story of our lives. Haha. Now secretly, to a really close friend you may be able to admit that you also did some wrong stuff, too; but there ain’t no way that anyone else is finding out about that. In fact, to all your friends you portray yourself as something resembling Jesus in the situation. I hope that you aren’t so disillusioned that you actually believe this has never happened to you. We really enjoy this social feedback loop.

There are other situations that come up in life where you have a single incident and then everything spirals out of control and that one incident ends up messing up everything in that relationship. I have totally had one of those.

It seems that there is nothing new under the sun because that is exactly what has happened with Absalom and David. The worst and most ridiculous thing about this story is that the catalyst to this relational tension didn’t even involve them. As you’ve read, this caused years of tension and problems and separation between father and son.

I am not going to speculate on whether David was right in not sentencing Amnon to death after rapping Tamar or whether Absalom should have killed his brother. There comes a certain point at which what has happened in life has happened. There is nothing you can do to change it and now you just need to live your life with the future in mind. In most of these cases keeping the tension and the bad blood in the relationship isn’t profitable to our own spiritual health and doesn’t promote godliness.

The section of today’s reading that I would like to discuss is 2 Samuel 13.37-39 and 2 Samuel 14.21-24, 28.  After Absalom killed Amnon, in worry and anxiety he fled to Geshur. It says that David mourned for his son in 2 Samuel 13.37. I am not sure which son he was mourning for but I believe that given the context of the paragraph and the verses around it the verse is telling us that David mourned for Absalom. This is also supported by v.39 where David says he longed to go out to Absalom. So why didn’t he?

David didn’t go out to seek his son Absalom, even though, he wanted to. He left him out in Geshur for 3 years. In fact, it wasn’t even David’s prompting that brought him back. Joab had to step in as mediator and be the counselor in this situation for Absalom to return. I think the responsibility falls on David to take the initiative to mend the relationship with his son instead of just leaving the situation in the wind. David essentially stuck his head in the sand and ignored the problem. Ultimately, this just caused problems between David and Absalom later on.

Finally, after Joab’s prompting David brings Absalom back to Jerusalem but tells Joab that Absalom can’t enter his presence. Absalom spends 2 years in Jerusalem before any action is taken in this relationship and the initiative once again wasn’t taken by David. It took Absalom saying it would have been better if I hadn’t left Geshur than to live like this and I would rather just have David do what seems right to me. Absalom hit the point where he would rather die if he had any guilt in him than live with this relational separation.

Surveying this whole situation, we see problems on both sides but I think the judgement ultimately lies with David. He took none of the initiative to repair this relationship. There is a real danger to leaving things unsaid that should have been said. I believe David’s longing to see his son at Geshur should have moved him to take action and confront the problems in relationship instead of just waiting. David longed for his son but out of pride or anger or stubbornness didn’t take the initiative to reconcile with Absalom.

When you consider the intensity of distress Absalom must have felt at the tension and loss of relationship that he would be willing to die if he had any guilt it is obvious that this weighed heavily on him. The two men’s reconciliation is sweet but was so long overdue that I think irreversible damage was done to the relationship given what happens in Chapter 15.

So, what can draw we from this? Firstly, to not let our conflicts go on forever. Secondly, when it is on your heart to apologize or you are longing for someone who you are in conflict with it may be God working on your heart to repair the relationship. Thirdly, get a mediator or a counselor involved if needed. Don’t wait until someone else feels like something needs to be done. Fourthly, you are responsible for taking the initiative to reconcile or apologize for what you have done. Fifthly, don’t be afraid to let someone have the ability to go second. In this final scene where Absalom goes to his father, his father embraced him and kissed him. I have a feeling that David had longed for this moment. I can remember a moment in my relationship with Shelby where we were in conflict and I had my defenses up to keep myself from over apologizing or taking too much of the blame. I remember so vividly her apologizing first and immediately all the weight was lifted, my defenses dropped, and I was no longer looking out for myself but I was looking for the good of the relationship. It gave me the freedom to really say the things I wanted to say when, at first, I may have even been hostile.

Finally, our relationships will only be as good as our communication in them. Remember it is wise to address conflicts as soon as possible. Do not leave things unsaid or problems unaddressed. They don’t just go away.

Daniel Wall

 

Today’s Bible reading can be read or listened to at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+13-15&version=NIV

Tomorrow’s reading will be Psalm 3-4, 12-13, 28 & 55 as we continue the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan