Day 178

Hosea 9-14.  “Faithful Always”

Under Nevada state law, any county with a population of fewer than 700,000 is allowed to legalize prostitution in brothels if it so chooses (which all rural counties have had at least one legal brothel in operation at one point or another).  Escort services offering sexual entertainment consume 140 pages of the Las Vegas yellow pages.
It’s disturbing to even talk about prostitution.  It’s sad that we can pervert and degrade everything down for financial gain, and worse, justify legalizing it.  
In a harsh comparison Hosea announced that Israel had been untrue to their God, “hiring themselves out like prostitutes, offering sacrifices to other gods” (9:1).  In a more PC fashion, we may prefer to say “they were unfaithful,” but that does not depict the severity of God’s perspective.  Considering the way Hosea and God describe it may help us understand the seriousness and danger in being unfaithful.  “As you cannot take a day off morally and remain moral, neither can you take a day off spiritually and remain spiritual.  God wants you to be entirely His, and it requires paying close attention to keep yourself fit” (Oswald Chambers).

General Questions for each day:
Summarize the day’s Bible passage in your own words.
What thoughts, actions, attitudes or beliefs are addressed in the passage?
How is the Holy Spirit leading you to apply this passage to your life today?