Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth. "O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, And like the early dew it goes away.(Hos 6:1-4)
The Lord Jesus is the end result of repentance: we learn to walk by faith, relying upon and thereby glorifying the Lord from the heart (Rom 15:5-7; Phil 1:27). We may think repentance is easy and quick, but it may take years, months, or many days, for the Lord to turn us to Himself. When the Lord told the five churches in Revelations 2-3 to repent, He gave them a way of escape, but problems may be so deep, that it takes years to root them out and return the heart fully to the Lord. He says, “For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew it goes away” (Hos 6:4).
First, repentance doesn't take place when we say, and it is not by self strength. He says, “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burn offerings” (Hos 6:6). Repentance is renouncing self entirely; it is leaning upon the Lord for salvation, trusting Him for acceptance with God. It is RESTING in the Beloved - a rest that comes from seeing Him as Lord, whom God raised from the dead, and thereby entering into the benefits of faith, even justification, forgiveness, and peace. If the heart doesn't rest, then it CANNOT love, which is the command (1 John 3:23). We are to believe and love from the Lord's power, and not our own.
Secondly, when repentance takes years or days longer than we imagined, don't give up. They said, “Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight”, but He said, “When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered, and the wickedness of Samaria. For they have committed fraud... they do not consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness; now their own deeds have surrounded them; they are before My face” (Hos 6:1-2; 7:1-2). Those who are taught by God will be drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ amidst the darkest of storms. We'll see hope in the gospel, in spite of our sins. He says, “Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you, when I return the captives of My people” (Hos 6:11). We'll see forgiveness, in spite of the wickedness of sin. And, we'll trust the Lord to improve us, though He hurts us for what we've done. Repentance is more than, “Sorry, Lord”, quite often, because we're only beginning to see what is wrong. A man, for years, may have strayed from God in the heart, living like the people of Haggai - for his own benefit - and then suddenly see how wrong he has been, and yet by the years, learn increasingly that he has fallen (Haggai 1).
He isn't condemned, but the pain continues, the crops wither, and the house built upon sand falls, so that he may build again. The Lord, after the disciples fished all night and caught nothing, told them to cast their nets on the right side, but it isn't until we do it right, that the affliction ceases (John 21:3-6). Sampson’s long hair (his obedience to God) was cut, and he thought he could go out as at other times. He didn't know, that his eyes must be gouged out, and he must entertain the wicked, before the hair would return, and he'd have enough strength to cry out again (Judges 16).
You will get Christ back. He wills to give Himself to you, but be PATIENT!
Finally, when God has returned you to Himself, purged the unbelief and produced the love, then you'll enjoy the benefits of faith, as He adds to you. He says again, “Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you, when I return the captives of My people” (Hos 6:11). Seeking your own will, caused Him to take away! He said, “For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me” (Hos 5:14-15). Seeking God's will, though trials abound and sufferings persist, produces the peace that is promised. You'll walk through life chasing after God, and seeing God bless your relationships and miraculously save.
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