Hosea 6:1 — Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
The surgeon has to use his scalpel to cut open the patient’s chest to fix the broken heart or to remove the cancer in the lung. But when the surgeon has finished, he closes up the wound with stitches and allows the patient to heal. God is the finest surgeon in existence. He never does unnecessary surgery, but when He performs an operation, it is always for the good of the patient.
The nation of Israel had a heart problem. They had given their hearts to foreign gods and they were worshiping idols. Yahweh was just one of the gods the people served, if they remembered Him at all. Sin was a cancer that had spread throughout the nation. People were living in gross wickedness and evil, even sacrificing their babies to idols. These people needed a heart transplant and cancer removal surgery.
God allowed the Assyrians to conquer Israel and take them into captivity in exile because this was how He could save many of them from their self-destructive sin. The people felt as though God had torn them to pieces, that He had wounded them. But Hosea said that God had a purpose for their pain and suffering, which was to heal them and bind up their wounds. God was doing surgery to save the people’s lives.
When we read Hosea 6:1-3, we can see that these verses also speak of Christ’s suffering in our place on the cross. Jesus was the one who was torn to pieces and wounded for our transgressions and iniquities (Isaiah 53:5). But on the third day, Jesus was raised up so that we could know Him in the power of His resurrection and glory.
God will bring the cross into our lives when we need it, which is every day, if we are being honest. Our flesh is always trying to take control of our lives and lead us into some sort of sin. If we end up in some wicked sin that is controlling us, God may have to resort to tearing us to pieces so He can heal us. God does this because He loves us, and He wants to spare us even worse pain than what we could experience if we remain in that sinful way of living.
Always remember that everything God does is motivated by His love. God loves you. Never doubt it.
03/15/2025 Devotional
"Everything God does is motivated by His love."
하나님께서 하시는 모든것은 그분의 사랑에서 비롯되는 것입니다.
민수기 23:19 RNKSV
[19] 하나님은 사람이 아니시다. 거짓말을 하지 아니하신다. 사람의 아들이 아니시니, 변덕을 부리지도 아니하신다. 어찌 말씀하신 대로 하지 아니하시랴? 어찌 약속하신 것을 이루지 아니하시랴?
Numbers 23:19 NLT
[19] God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?