This past weekend, I went to the Freshman Group retreat. It was awesome- amazing people, amazing speaker, amazing worship. I especially liked Friday night. To be perfectly honest, I didn't really think much about the message that Austin gave that night, at least not immediately. Not that it wasn't good, it just didn't immediately hit home with me. He spoke on the first few chapters of Hosea, Where Hosea is commanded to marry an adulturous wife, Gomer, and remain faithful to her. I left out a lot, but thats the gist. If you want the full story, open your bible. He told the story in way that I will get to later.
That night, through an interesting set of late-night events, I found myself bored and completely awake at 4:30 in the morning. I really didn't feel like going to bed, so I decided to read a book called Life on the Edge by James Dobson. Iwas reading a chapter called "Love Must be Tough" when Austin's message hit home with me. The chapter isn't about our relationship with God- it refers to human relationships, specifically dating, though it could be applied to others as well. Here are my notes on basically the combination of the two messages that I was given that night:
When most people read Hosea, they put themselves in the place of Hosea: Sacrificing his own weel being to do God's will. They view him as the one that should be imitated. Austin showed it a different way: He told us to put ourselves in the place of Gomer, which in truth is who we are more similar to. We are sinful, yet God takes us as his "bride." We cheat on Him by sinning again, yet still He loves us and askes us back into his arms after we have repented.
I took Austin's basic concept of thinking of God as a romantic relationship, and applied it to the chapter I was reading in Life on the Edge:
The basic concept of this chapter is to play "hard to get," but not too hard. Be willing to accept it if something you want to happen happens, but don't ask or beg for it. I have to wonder if this is what God sometimes does for us: plays "hard to get." If he spoke to us (audibly) constantly, asking for our love and attention, we would get bored with him. And I think, in that case, we should: is God that needs to grovel and beg for our attention really worth our worship and love? I think he sends us subtle signals to his desires, but wants us to come to him, asking what He wants of us. This way, our worship is truly worth something to Him.
That night, through an interesting set of late-night events, I found myself bored and completely awake at 4:30 in the morning. I really didn't feel like going to bed, so I decided to read a book called Life on the Edge by James Dobson. Iwas reading a chapter called "Love Must be Tough" when Austin's message hit home with me. The chapter isn't about our relationship with God- it refers to human relationships, specifically dating, though it could be applied to others as well. Here are my notes on basically the combination of the two messages that I was given that night:
When most people read Hosea, they put themselves in the place of Hosea: Sacrificing his own weel being to do God's will. They view him as the one that should be imitated. Austin showed it a different way: He told us to put ourselves in the place of Gomer, which in truth is who we are more similar to. We are sinful, yet God takes us as his "bride." We cheat on Him by sinning again, yet still He loves us and askes us back into his arms after we have repented.
I took Austin's basic concept of thinking of God as a romantic relationship, and applied it to the chapter I was reading in Life on the Edge:
The basic concept of this chapter is to play "hard to get," but not too hard. Be willing to accept it if something you want to happen happens, but don't ask or beg for it. I have to wonder if this is what God sometimes does for us: plays "hard to get." If he spoke to us (audibly) constantly, asking for our love and attention, we would get bored with him. And I think, in that case, we should: is God that needs to grovel and beg for our attention really worth our worship and love? I think he sends us subtle signals to his desires, but wants us to come to him, asking what He wants of us. This way, our worship is truly worth something to Him.
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