Editor’s Note: The AMI QT Devotionals from Dec. 14-16 are written by Andrew Kim who is an intern at Radiance Christian Church (S.F.).

Devotional Thoughts for Today

Hosea 2:19-20

And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.

I’m sure at one point, all of us have thought about “the one.” It’s this person who embodies all of our dreamy attributes or perfect personality traits to fit our every need and desire. But as you get older, this list gets shorter and shorter because we begin to see that there is no such person.

I’m sure Hosea was not thinking that Gomer was “the one.” During those days, it was wrong for a man, let alone a prophet, to marry a woman who was with another man. Gomer, in this case, was not with just one man but with many men and would continue to be unfaithful.

Like Gomer, the Israelites had been unfaithful to God, turning to worthless idols, and rejecting His glory. Yet, God does the unimaginable. Even in their unfaithfulness, God calls them back and declares that they shall be married to Him. But for a marriage to be consummated, the man would have to pay a bridal price. This price would be based on His righteousness, His justice, His love, and His compassion; and it would be fully displayed through his Son Jesus Christ. How great is our Lord who promises to be faithful to us and invites us into a relationship with him so that we will know Him! This relationship wouldn’t be based on our attributes or even our traits, but on Jesus Christ alone—this is grace.

As you continue to dive deeper into the narrative of Hosea, my prayer is that God will reveal the magnitude of His love and grace for you.  And during this season of warm greetings and gift exchange, remember those in our midst who will receive none; perhaps you can show them what God’s love and grace truly looks “with actions and in truth” (1 Jn. 3:18).

Prayer

Father, thank You for loving me, even in the midst of my failures and unfaithfulness to You. Jesus, thank You for the price that You paid for me. Holy Spirit, may I continue to live in the grace that You have shown me.

 Bible Reading for Today: Ecclesiastes 5

Lunch Break Study

Read Romans 5:6-8: You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

Questions to Consider

1. What does Paul emphasize about human nature?
2. How does God demonstrate His love for us?
3. What does this passage tell us about the nature of God’s love?

Notes

1. Like much of Romans, Paul is emphasizing human depravity. In the Greek tense, the words “were still” denotes an ongoing action that shows that even in our continuous depraved nature, God chose to save us.
2. By sending His Son Jesus to die for us. Not only to die for us but to justify us from all unrighteousness so that we may enter into a relationship with Him.
3. God’s love is unconditional, timely, and undeserving. There is nothing that we can do or be to earn His love. The relationship that He calls us into is solely based on His merit. Using the argument of dying for a righteous person, Paul shows how undeserving we are of His love.

Evening Reflection

Maybe you haven’t done all the right things today, or prayed enough. Do you feel separated from God? Remember, it’s not about what we are or how well we did something—we are saved through Christ and Christ alone.