Friday


BIBLE READING: Hosea 1-7
DISCUSSION                                                         
               So often in life, we are looking for our purpose.  We ask questions like, “Why am I here?” or “What does God want from me?”  Imagine if you’re Hosea.  You’re God’s prophet.  You’ve seen and heard stories of so many prophets before you and the great things they’ve done.  You wonder what God’s great purpose will be for you.  Then, God tells you, “Go, and take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry.  For the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord.” (Hosea 1:2)  If you’re Hosea, what’s your reaction?  “Huh?  You want me to do what!”  So, Hosea goes and gets a wife, Gomer, and has three children whose names are “vengeance” (Jezreel), “no compassion” (Lo-Ruhammah), and “not my people” (Lo-Ammi).  Hosea finds out his purpose in life, in being a prophet for God, is to be an analogy for God’s relationship with His people, and he does it well and serves God in the best way he knows how.
               In his book, Crazy Love, Francis Chan discusses how we all think that our lives here on earth are about us.  He uses the analogy of being in a movie.  He lays forth the idea of our time on earth being about 2 tenths of a second of being on screen in a full-length movie.  He discusses that since it is us, we tend to focus on our 2 tenths of a second we’re “on screen”, but no one else notices or makes a big deal of our time on screen(except for maybe our mother).  Everyone should focus on the larger plot of the movie and not necessarily our 2 tenths of a second of fame.  He uses this analogy to remind us that the entire “movie” of humankind is about God and His love for us.  We are merely 2 tenths of a second on this earth to help along the story.
               That brings us back to our original question.  “What’s my purpose here on this earth?  Why am I here?”  God knows.  He had a plan for Hosea; one that may seem strange, but was needed for the overall “plot”, if you will, of God.  God also knows why you’re here and why he needs you where you are in life.  Look around to see what purpose He’s showing you that He needs from you.
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