I am a Gomer

I have been trying to write this post for a couple of weeks now!  But it seems something always happens!  I had some other things that I had felt were priority.  Yet, after things calmed down and things began returning to normal, this post was right back on my heart.

Recently, I had polled my readers and asked the following question:

"If your spouse was unfaithful to you more than once, would you take them back? Could you love someone who didn't show you love?"

8% of you said that you were not bound to a marriage of infidelity and therefore would not take them back.

25% of you said you most definitely would because your vows called "For Better or Worse."

16% of you said "as long as their spouse was remorseful."

50% of you stated that there would be no way to know until you're in that situation.


I didn't ask this poll question to talk about adultery.  Not in the sense that you're probably thinking anyways.  I wanted us to see where our hearts were.  You see, it's easy for us to say that we would take back a spouse when things are going well.  Maybe we would.  I hope we would, but as 8% of you pointed out, we are not forced to do so as Christians.

Some of you said you would, but it would be conditional.  It would be based upon if your spouse was remorseful or not.  A whopping 50% of you claimed you don't know what you would do unless you were in that situation.

We will come back to this poll, but first, I want to bring in the story of Hosea. 
It's only 14 Chapters, and if you don't pay close attention, you might miss the love story in the beginning of the book.

I hope you'll read it for yourself, but here's a little bit of the gist of it for you:

Israel was divided up into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.  While the Southern Kingdom continued to serve God, Northern Israel chose to forsake their one, true God. 

The Northern Kingdom was experiencing good times.  As in most cases of prosperity, as the wealth increased, they began to turn from God.   Sin was running rampant in Israel:  prostitution, idolatry, drunkenness, etc.  God was hurt by Israel.  You see, Israel is special.  In the same sense that the church is the bride of Christ, Israel was like God's wife as well.  However, His bride had turned their backs on Him, despite His blessings upon their land. 

In comes Hosea.  Now Hosea (whose name means 'salvation') was a prophet of God, and one of the first things we see God tell Hosea to do is to marry a harlot!  What?  Aren't we supposed to be equally yoked?  But God had a purpose.  (There are many who believe harlotry was in her heart, and she would not act upon adultery until marriage, but that debate is not relevant here).

So Hosea went out and married a prostitute named Gomer.  Now God instructed Hosea to have children by her and to name them according to His purpose.  The first child was to be named Jezreel, meaning "God will sow."  God was sending a message to Israel.
Gomer's second child was a girl and God told Hosea to name her Loruhamah (unpitied or unloved).  Since Loruhamah was likely not Hosea's child, her name shows a representation of not being loved by her true father.

As soon as Gomer had weaned Loruhamah, she became pregnant again.  This time, she was pregnant with another boy.  Lo-ammi's name meant, "Not my People."  Do you see why God is having Hosea name his children in such a way?  It is a direct message to the people of Israel.  It is also a representation of Lo-ammi not being Hosea's child.

The book of Hosea speaks about Gomer's repeated adultery and then returning to her husband.   Chapter 2 and verse 7 gives me the impression she would only go back to Hosea as a last resort.  Can you imagine?!  Not only was she not remorseful, but she did not want to be with Hosea, at least not for love.

Think about how Hosea must of felt?  He knew what she was doing.  He knew his children were not his own.  Yet, he took her back...every single time.  He bought her back, out of slavery, at such a high price, despite what she had done to him.


I am so glad that God is not like us.  I'm glad that when we are unfaithful to Him, He doesn't say, "I'm perfect, and they are sinful.  I am not 'bound' to love them."  I'm also glad He didn't base His love for us on whether we're sorry or not.  God still pursues us even when we have not repented yet.  He loves us and is waiting for us to turn back to Him.
Thankfully, He already knows what He will do in the situation when we sin.  He doesn't make a decision based upon the moment, or His current feelings.  He has ultimate love and it's UNCONDTIONAL.  God loves us even when He knows His love will not be returned.  Much like Hosea's love toward Gomer.

We may think we're nothing like Gomer.  But are we faithful to God above all else in our lives?  Do we look to other gods for self-pleasure?  Maybe we just look to ourselves.  It's almost as though we have made ourselves to be a god.  We consult no one with our decisions in life, but ourselves (because who knows better than me?).  We purchase things to please ourselves.  We don't even want to lay it at another god's feet.  We are the god in our minds and we want to worship ourselves.  Every decision we make is about "what is best for me."

Oh this may sound like a stretch, but it is not.  Think about your thought life.  The part of your life that no one but you and God know about.  Answer these questions to yourself honestly.

1)  Do you love God, and Him alone, above EVERYTHING else?  That includes your children, your spouse, your job, your money, your health, your happiness....
2)  Do you feel like since you give your 10 or 15% to the church, that the rest is for you to spend on your "needs?"  Do you just give the minimum requirement or do you give all you can?
3)  Do we justify a fancy home because it's not as nice as most others you know?  At least we are not wasting our money like some.  Therefore, we must be spending our money modestly.  Do you compare your goodness to others as opposed to God's righteousness?
4)  What is the #1 thing your mind thinks about?  Is it REALLY about God?  Or is it about shopping, your kid's softball games, hunting and fishing, impressing others?
5)  Do you give God a little and keep the rest?  Do you go to church on Sundays and Wednesdays, but keep the rest of the week mostly to your doing (even if you're not doing anything "bad")? 

I ask that you really answer these questions honestly.  I find that when I'm honest with myself, I am shameful at my honest responses.  I haven't loved God above all else.  I am a Gomer.

I may not be exactly like her.  I may have remorse, but I am still hurting God when I love other things above Him.  He is the One who breathed LIFE into my lungs.  He is the One who sent His Son to give me an example and to die for my every last sin.  He is the One who has given me His Holy Spirit to comfort and guide me while I am on my mission to serve Him.

If someone were to put a gun to your head and claim that they would kill you, but I came in and said I would take the bullet , but I ask if you would just go to my house every single day and read a book for 30 minutes to my children.  Now, I'm sure you would gladly let me take that bullet and be so grateful to me.  I'm sure you would gladly lose a half hour everyday to meet the wishes of the one to saved your life....at least at first.

Despite your gratefulness, years go by and you've been faithful adhering to my request.  You've forgotten how it felt to have the gun to your head.  You're tired.  You have your own life and keeping your commitment to me has proposed its challenges.  Not only can you never be sick, but you can never leave for vacation.  You can't even get away for a two-day trip.  Suddenly, you feel as though your commitment is keeping you from doing the things you really want to do.

You begin to miss reading time here or there.  It's not like I'm going to know!  It's only for really important things in the beginning, but over time, you begin to miss more and more, until eventually, you stop going at all. 

Do you see what I'm getting at?  Jesus DIED in YOURS and MY place!  Furthermore, He has promised us an eternity in Heaven!  A place of perfection.  His promise is not based upon our works or goodness, but out of His love for us.  Yet, He does ask us, if we love Him, to serve Him with our daily lives. 

Do we?  Maybe "we said a prayer" a long time ago and really had a desire to please Him.  We wanted to share with others the Gospel.  But over time, we have to admit, our desire to evangelize and show love to those who are undeserving in our eyes, well, it becomes more difficult.  As our hearts are ever so gradually slipping away, we find our thoughts more focused on what we will wear tomorrow or what we will do this weekend.

Sure, some of you may think, "I'm saved.  I don't have to try and be perfect.  I'm going to Heaven."  If you're thinking that, I sure would re-evaluate your Salvation.  A genuine Christian will not try and do the minimum requirement.  A genuine Christian will strive for the path that Jesus set before us (despite knowing we will never come close). 

If you are certain of your Salvation, but you find that you are not daily seeking Him...reading His Word and praying to Him, I encourage you to change your path.  Do you find that you love God, but you have to admit, you love pleasing the world (as long as you don't have to sin to do it)?  If that's so, click here.

When I evaluate my own life, I find that even though I am saved, the world sometimes has a strong pull upon my heart.  You may not be able to tell it from the outside, but God sees it.  God sees my "wandering eye."  He sees my Gomer-like qualities.  As a Christian, it breaks my heart to know that I am not sometimes committed to Him 100%.  Even 99% should break our hearts. 

I'm not saying we never sin.  I'm saying, that when we do fall, when we do make mistakes, we are quit to repent.  Furthermore, we need to take steps to prevent from going down that road again.

I don't want to be a Gomer.  Gomer committed the same sin over and over again.  I may be flesh and imperfect, but if I must sin, may it never be the same sin.  I want to learn from my mistakes.  As I grown in the Lord, it's quite possible I will realize I have been committing some sins that I never realized before.  But as they are brought from my attention, I forsake all of my unrighteousness.

So, think about your life.  Think about your struggles.  Are you actively striving to turn from your sins: watching inappropriate television shows (maybe even though shows that only take God's name in vain once), gluttony (regardless of your waist size), gossip (even if it's true), telling white lies (even for a 'good' reason), a prideful heart (one of my major struggles), and just loving your life more than pleasing God (you can tell this if you're spending your time doing things you want to do rather than what He would have you do).

"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."  Luke 9:23

Oh I am not writing this post to depress us.  I just feel like if I'm living a comfortable life, I'm probably not living like Jesus did.  If we look at our sins honestly, it can be very depressing.  My point is for us to stop the busyness of our lives and realize how great God's love really is for us. 
Will you just stop and pray with God right now?  I'm doing it too.  Confess your sins (even the little ones and the ones no one else knows about), but more importantly, FORSAKE your sins.  Leave them.  Take important steps to never go back there.  Find a Christian mentor and confess your sins.  It helps to have encouragement.  I don't want someone patting me on the back telling me what a "good" Christian I am.  I want a friend who is encouraging me to be like Christ and who is humbling me.  If you don't have someone like that, comment here and let others be an encouragment to you.  You can always comment as "anonymous." 

If you're ready to take the next step, I hope you will see my heart in my trying to learn to not just to try and "not sin."  I don't want to say, "God, can I listen to this song?  It has nothing bad in it."  I want to start asking "God, is this song edifying to you?  I don't just want to avoid upsetting You with my sin, but I want to only do things that PLEASE you."

If you have a desire to begin to pray this statement, I hope that you'll click here.  I am looking for others who are wanting to take this stand.  This is so deeply on my heart, but I think we all need encouragement in this area.  This is not about just making a profession of Jesus, this is about each of us learning to only do things that are "edifying" to Him.  Boy, it's a tough road, but it's the road I want to take.  How about you?  Will you join me?

I'd love to hear your thoughts if you want to comment below!  You can also share this post by Email, Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, and Google by simply clicking one of the icons below this post.  You can also share via Pinterest by hovering your mouse over the picture above and clicking "pin it."  The pin will link back to this post.

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Thanks for taking the time to listen to my heart!  I look forward to hearing from you!