Hosea 3
Find your Worth in your Redemption!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, August 14.
We know the value of something by how much someone is willing to pay for it. In Hosea 3:1-2, the prophet responded to the Lord’s command, “‘Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.’ So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley.” Hosea was commanded to redeem Gomer, buying her out of slavery and restoring her as his wife. Because of Gomer’s unfaithful and licentious lifestyle, she found herself indebted and enslaved. Her redemption price was steep, as Hosea had to pay the full compensation price for a lost slave, which was thirty shekels of silver (Exodus 21:32). Hosea paid with what cash he had on hand, covering the rest with goods in-kind.
Thirty shekels of silver should ring some bells for you; it was the amount the Pharisees paid Judas to betray Jesus to them (Matthew 26:15). For thirty shekels of silver, Jesus was betrayed into the hands of sinners, but what was the price of redeeming you back from your unfaithful and licentious lifestyle? By the mercy of God, through Jesus’ shed blood, we are redeemed from our sins! Paul explained in Ephesians 1:7-8a, “In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.” You, like Gomer, have been bought at a price; redeemed out of slavery and restored into a relationship with God. Therefore, heed Hosea’s instructions to Gomer in Hosea 3:3, “You shall stay with me.” Abide with Jesus, the One who redeemed you at such an extravagant price.
Seize the moment and find your worth in what God was willing to pay for your freedom.
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YOUTUBE:
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