Today’s old testament reading from the book of the prophet Hosea, hopefully reflects our own progress this Lent too. The prophet Hosea is speaking on God’s behalf when he calls to mind the sins of the people, asking them to return to the Lord because there is no other who can save them.
He tells them to say no more “Our god, to the work of their hands”, which in modern times would be our material possessions. This Lent we have tried to learn to detach more from material possessions, by “giving alms”, or more money to charity, too. We are seeking to return to God by our prayers, fasting and alms giving, especially today. If we do these things, the Lord promises us to heal our defection, to heal us from the other gods we have worshiped. God says He will love us freely, for he will no longer be angry with us.
The remaining verses go on to speak of new growth, the same kind of new growth that we are hopefully experiencing a little of this Lent as well. The Lord says we shall blossom like the lily, and put down deep roots like the cedar trees. Our souls will become beautiful like olive trees and as peaceful as the cedars. We will dwell in the shade of the Lord and our lives will be blessed with plenty of good things to eat and drink, like the very best wines. He goes on to say that God is like a beautifully majestic cedar tree, which is solid and firm. It is only because of him that we bear fruit.
These readings from the old testament are so beautiful. They give us a little taste of what God is like. We can not describe Him adequately in human terms, but all of the rich imagery of living things show us a little of what our creator is like, and he loves his creation deeply, especially us.
These scripture verses lead perfectly into the gospel reading today when Jesus is asked which is the first of all the commandments? Jesus replied, “The first is this. The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” God comes first in our lives. He alone is worthy of all of our love. There is no other who should be more important to us than God. This may seem hard sometimes, because we can not see God, and we do physically see other people, but all we need to do is look upon creation to know Him. Creation is like a love letter that God gave to the world, for all generations, that we may know Him and love Him. The beauty of His being is etched into everything that exists. He leaves a trace of Himself in all that He created, like an artist, who created the greatest masterpiece the universe has ever known. Who can compare to Him? There is no other.
The second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. This commandment does not say to love others more than yourself, but equally so. To treat others the same as you yourself want to be treated. Sometimes people, get these two commandments reversed. It is easy to do, because we are with people all day. We can touch them, see them, and hear them. We can not do this with God. But, God is the love that runs through it all, through every person and everything that exists in creation. If we can take time to learn to be still, in silence and in solitude, we can find Him there in the depths of prayer. He will speak to us in the depths of our hearts, in silence, unbidden, and when we least expect it. God will make His love known to us more deeply than any human love. He is the very source of love. His love must be discovered first, before it can genuinely be shared with others. The second commandment is to share this love with others.
I hope you take some time today, to pray and to listen for God to speak to you in the silence. God loves you more than you know.
