HOSEA 2:5

“For their mother has committed prostitution: She who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’”

I have to admit that I mess up a lot. In the eyes of God, that’s sin. I fall short way too often. Most of the time it is accidental, as it should be. You may have heard it said, “Before salvation, we chase sin. After salvation, it chases us.” Sin, for a believer should be an accident. We should never deliberately choose to sin.

Here in today’s verse we see Gomer has chosen to sin. And even as a prostitute, she didn’t wait for the men to come to her. She went after sin. She chased sin. She was sin-crazed, so to speak. And God is showing Israel that they are the same way. They are chasing after sin. They are choosing to disobey.

APPLICATION

Well, the application is pretty plain. We should not be going after things we know are displeasing to God. We should not be doing things we know are sin in the eyes of God. If we have any doubt, we should stop. As a believer, we have the benefit of the Holy Spirit living in us. He is our sin-o-meter. If we listen, He will warn us far in advance.

But most of us have that meter turned down so low we can’t hear the warning signal. We like flirting with sin. We think we can get away with it. Well, you can’t. Sin will always be revealed. It may not be come out until later, but it will come out. Listen to the Spirit. He is your friend.

Today, stop and ask yourself if you are chasing after anything that is sinful. It may surprise you to find out something you thought was harmless is actually sinful. The devil loves to disguise things to distract us. He loves to lure us into complacency. Just ask the Lord. He will tell you, but you have to listen.

Father, keep me far away from the temptations of this world. I long to walk with You in holiness.