His Love Knows No Bounds

In Hosea, God uses the metaphor of marriage to illustrate His relationship with mankind (Hosea 1:2-3).(1) 

When Hosea’s wife Gomer becomes a prostitute, Hosea learns firsthand how God feels when we run after other gods.(2) 

The Lord punishes the unfaithful, but His desire, first and foremost, is to win us back (Hosea 2:13-15). Hosea’s life illustrates this truth when he asks unfaithful Gomer to return (Hosea 3:1).

Hosea is a foreshadowing of Christ’s redemption: We’re all like unfaithful "prostitutes," and Christ is our forgiving husband (Romans 3:23; Ephesians 5:23). 

If we repent, we can rejoice in this exquisite promise from the Lord: “my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever.” Hosea 14:1-4 

If we read Hosea and think it doesn’t matter what we do because God forgives us, we’ve sadly missed the point.(3) 

Hosea's story should give us a deep desire to please our Lord whose love for us "knows no bounds."(4)
------
(1) God uses this metaphor several places in Scripture, but nowhere as clearly as in the book of Hosea (e.g. Isaiah 54:5).
(2) Scripture isn’t perfectly clear about this point. Some Bible scholars believe she was a prostitute or a loose woman when he married her. Others believe she was a woman of poor character and became unfaithful after the birth of their sons.
(3) Hosea is not only an explanation of God's forgiving love, it's also a clear call to repentance (Hosea 14:2; Hosea 6:1-3). 
(4) Believers are commanded to find out what pleases the Lord (Ephesians 5:10), and we're told we can never fully know the wonderful love of God (Ephesians 3:17-19). 

FREE E-BOOKLET:

Why not add some more of God's Word to your schedule by having a 1-minute devotion like this one delivered to your email each weekday. Sign up for a free subscription to Bible Love Notes and get a free e-booklet that will help you add joy and depth to your Quiet Time. Find out more HERE.

Bible Love Notes