Delightful Inheritance

“‘I will go after my lovers, who gave me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink’ Hosea 2:5. ‘She does not recognize that it is I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil. I lavished silver and gold on her, which they used for Baal’” Hosea 2:8.

We don’t have to read far in our passage this morning to understand what was standing in the way of Gomer’s contentment, satisfaction and joy...her own self-focus. The very things she sought after were the very things she was already receiving from her husband. In that one short sentence she referred in some way to herself 9 times. How could she possibly see the truth of her blessings when she was focusing on what she lacked? We know she had these things but maybe she wanted more... instead of chicken she wanted steak...instead of her present wardrobe she wanted new clothes...instead of silver and gold that would last a year she wanted enough to last a lifetime. She had an ungrateful heart and a lack of discipline for setting boundaries.

Now before we go and judge her we must look at our own ‘me and my’ pursuits and weigh them against what God’s word states. When I say:

‘I am lonely’ - He says ‘I am continually with you’ (Psalm 73:23)

‘I am hungry’ – He says ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.’ (Matthew 5:6)

‘I am worried’ – He says ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear...’ (Matthew 6:25)

‘I am through’ – He says ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Co 12:9)

We cannot focus on our ways, our wants and our wisdom or we will take detours off the path the Lord has laid before us. We must recognize the boundaries He has set around us and trust Him for the rest. We must guard our hearts and minds so that when we are in our ‘me and my thinking’ we replace it with ‘Thee and Thy thinking.’ I love the phrase that Jennifer Rothschild said in my Bible Study this morning. She said that where our heart gravitates our feet will navigate. There is only one Lover who we should pursue, and it is the Lover of our soul who has given us everything we need to be victorious over this life. It is up to us to fix our eyes on Him and set our boundaries upon His wisdom.

‘The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a beautiful inheritance’ Psalm 16.6.