Freedom

In Sunday School, we have been doing a 6 week study on the book of Hosea called "The Greatest Love Story Ever." The focus is on the heart wrenching love story of Hosea and Gomer (which is symbolic for God's undying love for Isreal). Here's a little background for those unfamiliar with the story: God told Hosea "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness." Gomer bore Hosea 3 children, and then leaves them and continues on as an adulteress and acting in prostitution. Then God tells Hosea, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Isrealites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes." So Hosea goes and buys Gomer out of slavery for 15 shekels of silver and about 10 bushels of barley.

First of all, I cannot imagine marrying someone, whom I was told WILL be unfaithful to me, let alone going and buying them from slavery knowing of the awful things the person did. Hosea wasn't even sure if their children were his. Yet the more Gomer went out on him, the more Hosea loved her; He gave her everything, most of which she did not deserve.

This week we focused on how Hosea bought Gomer from slavery, and how God bought our freedom through His son, Jesus. God's unfailing love gives us FREEDOM. The world's definition of freedom is the absence of restraint or repression; independent; not subject to some authority or obligation; choosing for oneself; not confined. But through God, freedom is living the way you were designed to live...living in fellowship and relationship with God. Captivity is anything that hinders the abundant spirit filled life God planned for me. In this world, we are held captive to so many things, men, women, alcohol, drugs, sex, and the list could go on and on. The irony is that you'd think freedom wouldn't have boundaries, but His boundaries all you the most freedom and are there to protect you.
I just got so much out of this lesson, and a huge part of that is due to Amy, my teacher. She is so passionate and energetic about what she teaches us. She has opened my eyes to a new perspective on the story of Hosea and Gomer, and it's safe to say that their story is now probably one of my favorites from the Bible.

In, as we like to call it, "big church" Dr. Lincoln preached about the gift of Grace. He talked about how grace is a free gift from God, and don't we all love free things! This gift is something we cannot pay God back for, we must simply accept it. This part of the sermon really stuck out to me, "No matter how much I want to give a gift, unless the person wants to receive it, it won't matter or make a difference." You can be so excited about the "perfect gift" you find for someone, but if he/she doesn't want it, there really is no reason for the gift anymore. This concept can be applied to so many different things in life.
Receiving comes first; God intends for you to live life as if it were a gift.
Before we went into our last song, Dr. Lincoln told us that if there was anything burdening us or needing God's grace to ask, "God put your grace on this fear of mine." He told us we could just stay where we were or go up to the altar, whichever we felt comfortable with. During the song, I looked around and saw so many sitting down with their heads down in prayer. That moment, along with the song we were singing, touched me so much.

To sum it up, the main theme of the day yesterday was God's grace and unfailing love and secondly Shandon. I absolutely 100% love this church. I have been going there for about 2.5-3 months now, and it has already had such a huge impact on my life.