The kingdoms are still divide, the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel. The Kingdom of Israel has wandered away to the worship of other gods. And So in chapter one God calls Hosea to marry and love “a harlot, Gomer.” He marries her and He loves her.
As we settle into our new life in a world with COVID, our activities are more limited. This means our excuses for not spending real time with God in prayer are also limited.
It would be easy to launch into a critique of the world around us and rant about our country. More difficult is look inside.
Rather than compare our current culture to Israel or Gomer, our time would be better spent asking ourselves.
How am I unfaithful?
How have I turned away from the demands of my faith?
There is no such thing as “a Christian nation.” A country does not have a soul; a country cannot be baptized. When we speak of a “Holy Nation”we are speaking not of a human country, but of the Church. The Church always and everywhere has existed as a “people set apart” inside of human nations.
We change the culture not by ranting but by setting an example, by demonstrating to those around us the attractiveness of the Christian life. It is the witness of the members of the Church being faithful that calls others to conversion. We have tried imposing the faith on others. It always fails. Only by showing others the love of Christ will the message be heard and embraced.
