Thoughts for another day

July 2, 2009.

Today's verse: Hosea 2:14. Therefore, behold, I will allure her [Israel] and bring her into the wilderness, and I will speak tenderly and to her heart. (Amplified – copyright acknowledged; thank you)
(Pls. read the above before you read further. Thanks)

When small, I used to sneak on the Mills and Boons novels my elder sisters read and I remember, they always spoke of a dashing, dark and handsome hero who came and swept the heroine off her feet with his bravado and his gentleness. And as my mind goes back to those romantic scenes read long ago and I look at the Bible, I’m reminded about the romance our God wants to have with us.

Did you know that God is passionately in love with you? Aha, You didn’t eh? But He is and He’s also a jealous God who’ll not have you philandering with others who may try to take His place in your life. The book of Hosea is stamped with His unbounded passion for us. We stray and run behind other gods, who’re no gods but figments of our imagination. Our adrenaline rushes into spontaneous rhythm when we indulge in some attractive activity of the world promising us nirvana, even though its but a mirage, the essence of an ephemeral poison disguised as an eternal fragrance, killing us in its wake later.

But you know, our God…the handsomest hunk the world can ever know, rescues us from the shackles of the illusion the devil beguiles us with. He blocks our paths so we don’t tread into the devil’s lair and He leads us on to a garden so beautiful that only its appearance is enough to refresh our souls and cleanse us deep within. Though it be a searing wilderness, His presence creates an oasis of grandeur where He bends down and takes your face into His hands speaking gently to your heart; telling you of His love and the dwelling place, He’s prepared for you, where He and you can consummate your passion. Even thinking of this can bring us into an aura of ecstasy. And then, what care I of my troubles or what care I of my illnesses? In the grip of El Shaddai, the Omnipotent One, every danger - present and to come - melts into nothingness.