She decked herself with rings and jewelry and went after her lovers. But me she forgot, declares the Lord Hosea. 213 God's people in every age have done this in the rush for comfort and pleasure and entertainment. God's people have grown slack in godliness and in goodliness. Business and family and other things consume so much of us that at times we fail to give proper consideration and respect to the Lord and to our relationship with him. And just because we show up at church on Sunday does not mean that we are committed to godliness. One day a week doesnt cut it. And lets be honest, it isnt really one day anyway, but only a sliver of the day, perhaps not even 2 hours in church. And are we always 100% present even in that short time? Our body might be seated there, but isnt it true that our minds are often somewhere else? Hosea tried to get gods people to acknowledge that this was so, calling them to repent, but it didn't happen. The fault was not his. He was a faithful messenger of God, but his people were hard headed and hard subjects to reach. We aren't much different today. We often have so much going on that we pay too little attention to the things of God. We are often too seduced by the world's temptations for pleasure or wealth. Our ears are often more tuned in to what the world is saying rather than to what God is saying. Our eyes are often blinded to the truth, by illusions of wisdom or science that are really nothing more than the faulty reasoning and ideas of men disguised as enlightened but completely contrary to the scriptures. We are a generation that has in large measure forgotten not so much who we are, but who we are supposed to be. We serve ourselves rather than the Lord, and we have either forgotten him or have simply pushed him out of the way while we tend to our own affairs, even if those matters are in conflict with God's call. And you know what's really sad about all of this? We don't intend to do what we do. It's not that we don't want to be committed to the Lord. It's just that we are so wrapped up in things that don't really matter, that what really does matter is put on the back burner. And while we promise to get to those things that really matter, and even have every intention of doing so, we just never quite get to them, do we? Hoseas message was not so much a pronouncement of judgment as it was a plea. Come, let us return to the Lord, he cried. Should that cry not echo in the hearts of those who call themselves gods. People today, none of us are fully what we ought to be. We are not perfect, but we can and should do better.

This has been your thought for the day with Steve Burkham, pastor of Community Christian Church in Stockton, California. If you have questions or comments for Pastor Steve, please send them to dailythoughtspodcastmail.com dot. Have a great day and we hope youll join us tomorrow as Pastor Steve opens gods word to bring us another thought for the day.