Day #3: Promiscuity and Drugs.
[If you want to know how and why this devotional came into existence feel free to read this]
What you will need:
- A Bible
- This Devotional
- Some Coloring Utensils
- And a print out of this awesome coloring sheet designed by Nic Mansfield (Instagram and twitter)
Theme: Nostalgia (Self Reflection)
Passage for March 3rd 2017: Hosea 2:14-23
Bars from “Same Drugs”:
“We don't do the same drugs no more.
We don't do the, we don't do the same drugs, do the same drugs no more.”
A Thought:
Chance made it clear that even though “Same Drugs” talks about them, the song is not about “doing drugs.” The song is about a relationship from his youth. And “drugs” (which hold a complicate place in his life) act as a metaphor for all the ways his friend and him connected when they were young. Now, however, they have drifted apart. Youthful relationships are not alone in this phenomena, even committed romantic relationships can drift. When this happens there are two options. The first is to continuing to allow it to diverge and eventually dissipate. If the relationship is important enough, however, one or both of the members decide to fight for it.
Hosea’s relationship with his wife Gomer is complicated. She is a “promiscuous woman” who continues to cheat on him. God told Hosea to marry her as a prophetic symbol showing how God remains faithful to His people even when they wander from Him. Earlier in Hosea, God confronts His people because they are not pursuing Him. They have turned away from the relationship God has been cultivating, and while God has remained committed, His people have not simply drifted but run from him. It wouldn’t be a big of stretch to say that God is facing a “we don’t do the same drugs” problem. At one point they were close, now, however, there is distance between them. But God never waivers from the love he has for his people. This relationship is too important. So, He ensures His people in Hosea 2 that He will always pursues them.
If there is a chasm in my relationship with the Lord, I know it isn’t God who is drifting. It is me. Even if it seems like God is silent, Hosea reminds me that God is simply speaking softly to draw me close, reminding me of His love and care for me.
These are the questions I am contemplating today: How have I wandered or run from God? And how is God speaking softly in order to draw me in and remind me of His love?
Mediation: Psalm 13
Choose a verse or two from the Psalm that sticks out to you. As you color today, have a conversation with the Lord about what He is saying to you through those verses.