like the spring rain.

May 12, 2010

“Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord;

 his going out is sure as the dawn;

he will come to us as the showers,

as the spring rains that water the earth.”  -Hosea 6:3

In Hosea, our holy God wrestles with how to respond to an unrepentant Israel.  On the one hand, His righteousness recognizes the punishment that they deserve, but on the other hand, his love for them is too deep to let them go.  In many instances, either the wrath OR the love of God is mentioned, but rarely are both considered.  But what’s cool about Hosea is that both are seen.  If God wasn’t holy; if he didn’t exercise his wrath, then he wouldn’t be God.  But if his love completely passed over all sin, he wouldn’t be righteous or holy. 

But the Lord desperately desired to reach out.  To come to us like the spring rain, gently washing over all of our sins.  To love us like only He can love, with a perfection, an entirety that we can’t even begin to comprehend.

That’s why Christ came to die.  To satisfy God’s wrath and enable God’s perfect love to extend to the very depths of those who call on Him, cleansing all the sins of His people.

It’s the middle of May.  I listen to thunder rumble around me, I watch cool, clean drops of rain fall from the sky.  I wait for lightning to momentarily illuminate all of it.  And I want to press on to know the Lord, who has given me everything in His Son.