It’s Not Too Late | Hosea 14:1

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Our text today is Hosea 14:1

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
    for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. — Hosea 14:1

Some of you need to hear four simple words today:

It's not too late. Brother. Sister. It's not too late. To return, repent, start over, and come home.

That is how Hosea ends. Thank God. After thirteen chapters of warnings, confrontations, judgment, and exposure, God does not close the book with the last chapter of condemnation.

He closes it with an invitation.

"Return."

Think about it. Israel had chased idols. Ignored prophets. Rejected truth. Compromised with the culture. Trusted false gods. Forgot the God who rescued them. Yet God's final word is not, "Good riddance." His final word is, "Return."

That tells us something remarkable about God. He is more interested in your return than your ruin.

Some people assume God is looking for reasons to push them away. Hosea reveals the opposite. Throughout this entire book, God has been pursuing people who keep running from him.

And we all stumble in our run from God. You may have stumbled into: pride, addiction, compromise, bitterness, greed, spiritual apathy, sexual sin, self-reliance, or years of drifting. But your stumble does not have to become your future.

That is why this verse is so hopeful.  God is not asking Israel to pretend that nothing happened. He is asking them to stop running. And to turn around and return.

And maybe that is exactly what some of you need to do today. The same God who confronted your sin is the God who welcomes your return.

And here is what I love most: God does not say, "Return when you've cleaned your life up."

He simply says, "Return," Because he is the one who will clean up your life. He is the one who will wash you clean. What you need to do is return.

And you can do that right now. Today. Because God's grace always makes an opening for a person who repents.

And if you can still hear God's voice calling you, then he is not done with you yet. So if you have drifted, compromised, wandered, or grown cold, hear the first words of Hosea's final chapter as if God is speaking directly to you: Return.

DO THIS:

Take five quiet minutes today and tell God honestly where you have stumbled, drifted, or resisted Him.

ASK THIS:

1. Where have I been running instead of returning?
2. What is keeping me from coming home to God today?
3. Do I believe God's grace is greater than my failure?

PRAY THIS:

Father, thank you that it is not too late. Give me the humility to stop running, the courage to return, and the faith to trust that your grace is greater than my failures. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"We Repent"