The Dixie Chicks have a song called “Once You Love Somebody.” The lyrics of the chorus of the song are as follows:
Once You’ve Loved Somebody
It Ain’t That Easy To Do
Once You’ve Loved Somebody
Like I Loved You
These lyrics immediately draw my mind to the book of Hosea. Throughout the book, the prophet describes the relationship he has with his wife Gomer, a harlot. God is using this relationship to show the relationship He has with His straying, adulterous people. One of the saddest verses in all of Scripture is found in this book.
What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away (Hosea 6:4).
How terribly vivid and heartbreaking that imagery is! God, Who is the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17), Whose blessings are new every morning (Lam. 3:22-23), Who is ever-faithful (Psalm 89:8), is forsaken by an infatuated people. They “return” to the Lord and proclaim their love, but it is quick to go away. They rather immediately fall back into their idolatrous ways, even though God is so good to them. Immeasurably good. Immeasurably gracious.
And so, the lyrics pop back into my mind. These people have a love that is as fleeting as the morning dew. How difficult must it be for God to forgive them? To take them back? To continue loving them? After all, once you’ve loved somebody so much, it’s difficult to open yourself back up again. To trust again. Especially when the people barely seem penitent!
My people are bent on backsliding from Me.
Though they call to the Most High,
None at all exalt Him (Hos. 11:7).
Yet through all of that…through their continual betrayal and hypocrisy, God loves them. It isn’t difficult for Him to love them, because His love is so deep and abiding. Just one verse after acknowledging that the people don’t exalt Him, the Lord says,
“How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I set you like Zeboiim?
My heart churns within Me;
My sympathy is stirred.
I will not execute the fierceness of My anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim.
For I am God, and not man,
The Holy One in your midst;
And I will not come with terror”
God is so good. He loves with a free and abundant love. His forgiveness is overwhelming. His belief in us as a sinful people is uplifting and empowering. His long-suffering is astounding. His mercy is unfathomable. See what He says in Hosea 14:4-5:
“I will heal their backsliding,
I will love them freely,
For My anger has turned away from him.
I will be like the dew to Israel;
He shall grow like the lily,
And lengthen his roots like Lebanon.”
I love that He brings back the dew imagery. While the love of the backsliding people (read: us!) is as fleeting as dew, God’s love is like the dew of the morning, helping the lily to grow. His love allows us to soar to greater heights than we could ever dream on our own. And His love is a love that abides even though we are weak and frail and adulterous.
Our God is an amazing God. If you take nothing away from this post today, just remember that. Our God is so, so good to us. When we were still sinners, He sent His Son to die for us. While we were enemies, He extended His love to us in such a magnificent, sacrificial way. We could never, ever deserve that love. We could never, ever repay His gift. Thankfully, He doesn’t ask us to. Instead, He asks for our obedience. And the things He asks us to keep, they’re not burdensome things. It is simply living a dedicated life to the One who died in our place. Choosing Him on a daily basis, because He has done so much to give Himself to us. Choosing God — the giver of every good gift, the Author of eternal salvation, the Savior of the world. How could we NOT choose God? In every day. With every decision. Let us choose our merciful Savior. Let us serve our magnificent God.
