Hosea 9:1 “Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation like the nations! For you have played the harlot, forsaking your God. You have loved harlots' earnings on every threshing floor.”

A young man stood in the foyer of a jewelry store, looking at all the various and sundry rings, necklaces, and watches in the shop. The jeweler came out from behind the counter to aid the young man in his search.
“What can I do for you?”
“Nothing right now sir. I am just looking for a gift for someone special”
“What is the celebration?”
“Well, I am up for a pay raise at work”
“Is that all son?”
“Well for now. But I hope to get more later on too”
“Son, why don't you just forget about buying something right now, wait until you have the money in your pocket before you get something.”

Israel was starting to celebrate because they were starting to see relief from their problems, and yet the Lord warns them that they are not going to last long with this relief. While the neighbor, Assyria, is in the height of prosperity, Israel is about to suffer even more. They had left God. Oh sure, they gave lip service to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They still wore their hair the right way, and said The Shema daily. The sacrifices still went up and people still went to the temple.

The problem was that Israel had started acting more like their neighbors. God became a duty, not a desire. They wanted to do things the way Assyria did things, the way the Babylonians did things, and the way their friends did things. They wanted to watch the same TV shows that their neighbors did, drive the same car, wear the same clothes, eat the same things, and discuss the same topics at the water cooler. Israel no longer understood that they were to be a people set apart for God.

God equated this with spiritual harlotry, and His people, who were to be called by His name needed to be purified and brought back to Him. They were unable to avoid the consequence of deistic prostitution. Israel needed to return to God and needed to understand where their help came from.

We frequently do the same thing. We make other things the focus of our lives. We become more involved with studies, with relationships, with work, with TV, with family, and with friends than we are with God. God wants to be in everything we do, not just our first priority or duty, or 2nd or even 3rd. He wants to be everything, 1 through infinity in priority in our lives.

Where are we in our walk with God? Is it a duty? Is it a desire? Do we have other things we do that we don't even think about including God in? Have we desired other things besides God? If so, let us heed the words in Hosea 14:1 “Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity.”

I have ceased from my wandering and going astray,
Since Jesus came into my heart!
And my sins, which were many, are all washed away,
Since Jesus came into my heart!