ESOCS Devotional 4 February 2024 – Take a Word
MEMORY VERSE: “Take words with you, and return to the LORD. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifices of our lips.”Hosea 14:2
TEXT: HOSEA 14:1-END
O israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
2 Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
3 Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.
9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.
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In returning to the LORD, Israel must come on God’s terms, not their own. God says, “When you return to Me, take words with you. I want you to return to Me not with a silent feeling in your heart, but with proper words of repentance and trust in Me.” When we come before the LORD, it is essential to take words with us. There is a place for sharing the inarticulate feelings of the heart with God, but that is not the essence of fellowship and prayer with Him.
The worship of God is intelligent, and God made us able to communicate ideas and feelings with words. It isn’t enough to sit before the LORD and feel love towards Him. Instead, “take words with you”; tell God that you love Him. It isn’t enough to feel repentance before the LORD. Instead, take words with you and tell God you repent before Him.
This is the same idea that Paul expressed in Romans 10:8-10: But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
God commands us to communicate with Him in words, not only ideas or feelings. What words do we take with us? The best words are the words God gives us in His Word. When we communicate to God in the words and ideas of Scripture, we find an articulate and effective voice before God. When we return to the LORD, taking words with us, we must first come humbly. We recognize our sins and our total dependence on the grace of God.
Dearly beloved, as we approach the throne of God this morning, let us ask Him to take away all iniquity and receive us graciously, for this is the sacrifice of our lips.
- You should maintain a good relationship with God by coming into His holy presence with the words spoken in righteousness.
- Holy Spirit, please teach me how to speak wisely.
Further Reading: Leviticus 8:1-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; 1 John 2:1-17
ESOCS Devotional 4 February 2024
