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Nothing More Precious - Not Even Religion!

Consider yourself religious? It might not be enough.

There is no truth or mercy
Or knowledge of God in the land...
My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.


  - Hosea 4.1, 6

You have nothing more precious
than the love of God, if you perform it:
you will not regret
adoring the King of clouds
.

  - Oengus mac Oengobann, Féilire Oengusso, Irish, 9th century[1]

I’ve been spending a good bit of time in the minor prophets these days, in preparation for a Scriptorium series on them, beginning perhaps next spring. Hosea is the “gateway” into the minor prophets, the first in canonical order.

And his message should startle us as much as it must have startled those who first heard him.

I can imagine the people of Israel were perplexed by Hosea’s charge: “What does he mean, ‘no knowledge of God’?”

Why, they were a very religious people. They were so religious, in fact, that they outstripped their sister state, Judah, in their approach to worshiping God. Whereas the poor, benighted people of Judah only had one center for worship, Israel had set up two. It was much more convenient not to have travel so far, and, by pandering to people’s convenience, they doubtless attracted more worshippers than the rigid Puritans in Judah.

Plus, in Israel anybody could aspire to the priesthood, from any of the tribes who lived there, not just those from one privileged tribe, as in Judah (how narrow minded!).

And besides, hadn’t the Israelites made room in their worship of God for the “best practices” and cultural preferences of many of the “seeking” folk from the surrounding nations? Oh, so what if they referred to God as “Baal” (Hosea 2.16, 17)? Everybody knew what they meant. Show a little tolerance, would you?

Yes, indeed, the people of Israel in Hosea’s day were very religious.

They just didn’t know the Lord.

Hosea’s word was precisely to this point: To know God is to love Him, and if we would love God, it must be on His terms, not ours. Love for God is not merely something to profess. Love for God must be performed.

Israel was rejected by God because they did not perform love for Him in the way He prescribed. God had told His people what He desired of them; they chose to follow their own ideas, however, rather than His. They still worshiped God, but in their own way, on their own terms, and with a view to accommodating the sensitivities of their pagan neighbors.

Like them, we will forfeit our place of covenant relationship with God if we insist that we can improve on what He has prescribed concerning how we must know, honor, and love Him.

To know God truly is to adore Him completely; to adore Him completely is to love Him obediently. There is nothing more precious than to love God, and to love Him as He prescribes.

No amount of good intentions, clever innovations, or culturally-sensitive adaptations will substitute for loving God by knowing Him and keeping His Law (Matt. 22.34-40; Jn. 14.15).

We will not regret loving God in this way, and certainly we may love Him truly in no other.

Psalm 116.1-3 (Mit Freuden Zart – “All Praise to God Who Reigns Above”)
I love the Lord because He hears my cries and pleas for mercy.
Because He bends to me His ears, my prayers shall ever thus be.
The snares of death encompassed me; hell’s grip could not unloosened be;
Distress and anguish pressed me.

O loving God, let love for You wash my soul, content my mind, and render all love of lesser things hateful. Adapted from Colmán mac Beógnai, Aipgitir Chrábaid

Speaking of love for God…

What does it “look like” when we’re loving God as He intends? And what about our neighbors? What does that “look like”? After all, we have a Personal Mission Field full of neighbors, and if we’re not loving them with God’s love, what are we doing? But if we don’t love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, how will we ever love our neighbors as we should? Help is on the way, beloved. We’ve prepared two brief Taxonomies to guide you in meditating on what it means to love God and your neighbors, and to help you assess the state of that love in your life, and to make specific plans for growth. Nothing is more precious than the love of God, if we perform it; and love for our neighbors follows hard on that. Click this link to download your free copy of our Taxonomies for loving God and neighbors, and begin making such love more consistently your daily experience.

Men of the Church: Love for God and neighbors begins in prayer. God intends for us to pray. Together. As men. Download our call to prayer, sign up for the Men at Prayer weekly newsletter, and become part of a movement of men who are seeking the Lord daily and together for revival, renewal, and awakening.

Beginning next week our ReVision column will house the daily devotional and podcast, ViewPoint. We begin next week a series on the Lord’s vision for His Church. Each week’s series is put together into a seven-lesson study suitable for personal or group use. If you’re not receiving ViewPoint daily, go to the website and sign-up today.

Psalms to Pray for Today and Thursday
Today
Morning: Psalm 119.97-104; Psalm 87
Evening: Psalm 13

Tuesday
Morning: Psalm 119.105-112; Psalm 88
Evening: Psalm 14

T. M. Moore, Principal
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All Psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.



[1]Carey, p. 190.

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

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