It's a beautiful spring day in June. The sun is filling the sky with brilliance and warmth. The aroma of red roses glides through the wind adding to the splendor of the day. The guests have arrived for the ceremony and gracefully take their seats on both sides of the isle. With excitement and joy the groom take his place at the altar next to his Father who will be performing the ceremony. Then the moment arrives and the bride takes her first step down the isle. She is a vision of loveliness. From the moment bride-groom's eyes catch sight of his bride they begin to well with tears of joy, passion, love, and anticipation. He holds out his hand and she gently slips hers into his, their fingers intertwined in loves embrace. They exchange loving glances and are prepared for the joyous ceremony to begin when the brides stops the grooms Father as he is about to begin the ceremony. She smiles and takes her hand back only for a moment as she reaches into her bouquet and pull out a pair of ear buds attached to her i-pod touch. She gently places one in each ear and scrolls through her play-list as she finds just the song she was looking for: Justin Beiber's new hit " If I Was Your Boyfriend." She presses play, lays the i-pod back in the bouquet, grabs her groom's hands to the sway of the music in her head, and nods to her future father-in-law that he may begin. The groom's mood has obviously changed from overjoyed and excited to a bit concerned and slightly hurt. Despite this he continues on with the ceremony because his love for his bride has not changed one bit. The pivotal moment of sharing the vows has arrived. They begin with the groom. With each syllable that rolls off his tongue a promise of his love and commitment to her is given. Each vow is a pledge of himself to her forever. When he is complete it is the rockin' brides turn to recite her vows: "If I was your boyfriend, never let you go. Keep you on my arm girl, you'd never be alone…" She sings the lyrics of her new favorite hit song. Her soon to be Father-in-law pauses and exchanges a glance with his son. They don't miss a beat despite this odd turn of events and the two are pronounced husband and wife. The groom takes the bride in his embrace and they exchange their first gentle kiss. The bride embraces her new husband but over his shoulder sitting in the first row is a handsome guest she hadn't noticed before. He looks at her with longing glances and gives her a wink. He motions to her to come over to him for just a moment. She gently pushes away from her groom. She bites her bottom lip and her forehead wrinkles as she contemplates what to do next. She whispers in her beloved's ear that she will be back. She steps away from the altar and takes the hand of the enticing and handsome stranger from the front row and walks away as the words from the song continue to play in her ears: "If I was your boyfriend, I'd never let you go, I can take you places you ain't never been before. Baby take a chance or you'll never ever know. I got money in my hands that I'd really like to blow." The groom stands at the altar remembering his vows that he gave to her. He would never leave her no matter what. So he stands there and waits for the return of his beloved bride.
This may seem like an absurd story but so does choosing to ignore the knowledge of God and being unfaithful to him. This is what we read in our reading today. This is what we see has happened in the story of Hosea. I was struck by the beginning of verse 4:6
"my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6a
Like the bride in the story above we get so busy with the things of this world, the struggles, the necessary work, the relationships with people, the activities, the chores, the errands, the vacations, the holiday's, the celebrations, the commitments, etc. that we drown out the words of God, his vows, his promises for our lives. We don't leave enough room for God's word and his word is knowledge. Can you imagine getting married to someone without making any vows or receiving any? We are called the bride of Christ. His vows have been written since before we were even born and yet we often enter into each day enticed by another who has no promises stored up for us. We, like the Israelites can become unfaithful to the one who paid the ultimate price for our hands (our lives).
I know that there are times when reading through the bible in a year seems more like a chore then the blessing of getting to hear my groom, my savior whisper his vows of love in my ears. I become too busy to witness the passion he has for my life and me. I get to lazy to take time to see the lengths and depths he will go to on order to protect me and guide me in this journey of life. He will always be there to embrace me when I realize that I have been a fool to walk away from him, my groom, in order to hold hands with the lies of one who wants to be a temporary boyfriend offering nothing more then fleeting moments of possible pleasure. A temporary boyfriend who only has a limited amount of resources to burn through and once gone abandons me as I abandoned the one who gave his life for me.
It's the lack of knowledge that will destroy us. That will lead us down a path that takes us away from the one who loves us. Stay strong and continue to seek the knowledge of God and feel the warm embrace of Christ each and everyday. His word is knowledge. His word is full of promises for us.
It's time to take the ear buds out of our spiritual ears and let the words of God fill us to overflowing. To hold tightly to the hand of God and be reminded of how very special we are to him.
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