Daily Devotional for Sunday, July 19

Israel’s Invitation from the Lord

“Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips,” Hosea 14:1, 2.
Some times in your natural life you may be given an invitation to an event or occasion that you consider to be a once in a lifetime chance and your response is “no way I’m going to miss this event.” To you it is considered an invitation you cannot refuse! In Hosea 14, the Lord presented an invitation to the nation of Israel, that was an offer that a wise person could not refuse. Israel had been backslidden from the Lord, the Lord lovingly suffered long with them and admonished them to turn away from their wickedness and idol worship. Israel had fallen because of their own iniquity. However, the Lord displayed His love through offering an invitation to receive them back if they would turn from their idolatrous ways.
The invitation that the Lord extended to Israel displayed the greatest love mankind can ever experience and it revealed how superior God’s love is. God loves you so much that He invites you to come to Him even though He knows you are fallen, because of your sin nature, and the wickedness you practice.
God invites you to confess your sins, repent of your sins, acknowledge that no one else can save you. He promises to heal you, He promises to love you unconditionally. The Lord will refresh your life, restore you to pleasant places in life, protect you and enable you to produce godly fruit when you accept God’s invitation to turn to Him. God’s invitation is declared in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

FINAL THOUGHT
Turning to God is the chance of a lifetime.

Andrew McClung