I found hidden within the pages of the book of Hosea what reads to me like a wedding vow, a beautiful marriage proposal from God to us. It reads:
“In that coming day,” says the Lord, you will call Me my Husband instead of my Master.”-Hosea 2:16 NLT “I will make you My wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion. I will be faithful to you and make you Mine, and you will finally know Me as LORD.”-2:19-20
This wedding vow was made during one of Israel’s darkest moments in history. They rejected their God to worship idols. God also refers to Israel in this book as a prostitute and compares the nation to an adulterous wife. They gave up their glorious God for a lie … a picture of all of us while we were still in sin. So why did God propose to a world that rejected Him? God proposed because He loves us, all of us, flaws and all. The thing about this proposal is that it is not dependent upon our faithfulness but on God’s faithfulness.
“If they violate my decrees and fail to keep my commands, I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging; but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray My faithfulness. I will not violate My covenant (His promise) or alter what My lips have uttered.” –psalm 89:31-34 niv
God fulfilled this vow in the body of His Son, Jesus Christ when He offered Him up as a sacrifice and punished Him for our sins and iniquity so that we may have the love and the promises of the Father for all eternity.
So how do we accept God’s proposal? Simply start by turning to God in prayer. Speak to Him from that secret place within you. Allow Him to see the person behind the mask… THE REAL YOU. Trust Him with what’s really on your heart and mind and watch the love of God (His wedding vow) manifest itself in your life.