Lunch - Hosea 6 - Better than Sacrifice

¹ “Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.

² After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.

³ Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”

⁴ “What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears.

⁵ Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth; my judgments flashed like lightning upon you.

⁶ For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

⁷ Like Adam, they have broken the covenant— they were unfaithful to me there.

⁸ Gilead is a city of wicked men, stained with footprints of blood.

⁹ As marauders lie in ambush for a man, so do bands of priests; they murder on the road to Shechem, committing shameful crimes.

¹⁰ I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel. There Ephraim is given to prostitution and Israel is defiled.

¹¹ “Also for you, Judah, a harvest is appointed.

- Hosea 6:1-11 NIV

Breakfast - Isaiah 58 - True Fasting

¹“Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins.

² For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.

³ ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.

⁴ Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.

⁵ Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

⁹ Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

¹¹ The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

¹³ “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

¹⁴ then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” The mouth of the Lord has spoken.

- Isaiah 58:1-14 NIV

What Would it Look Like?

If you were to completely sell out to serving Jesus, what would that look like?

What would you say to someone then that you won't say now?

What is it that you do these days that you wouldn't do in front of people that you know in church?

Name the three people you know who most need Jesus... have you spoken to them all about Him?

What all could you sell to support someone who is spreading the Gospel?

Can you talk to God about your answers to these questions?

Would you? Please?