Dear BAGBR Church,
Hosea 7: 14 "And they do not
cry to Me from their heart,
When they wail on their
beds; for the sake of grain
and new wine, they assemble
themselves..."
When the reality of Israel's
waywardness and wickedness
caught up with them, there
was great weeping and sorrow
of heart--to the point that
many who had forsaken the
feast days returned and
gathered for worship.
On the surface all these
signs seemed to indicate
that there was a genuine
revival occurring, but God
knew what was really going
on in their hearts.
Do not be deceived by those
who may be emotional because
of the sorrows in their
life. Having an
emotional reaction to great
sorrow and failure is not
the same as repentance.
There is a difference in
conviction and conversion.
These tears can be simply
tears of disappointment and
not an indication of
returning to the Lord.
Neither can we determine
that just because a large
number of people gather at
church for worship that
their desire is for God to
work in their hearts. There
are those who come to church
not because they desire for
God to work in their life,
but they are bargaining with
God. Some think that if they
"get back in church" then
God will bless their
business, and their external
needs will be supplied.
These kinds of tears and
church attendance are all
based upon selfish
desires--not a repentant
heart desiring God to work
in their life. We can
never know whether or not
tears are genuine, or
returning to church is
sincere...until they
continue in humility to
pursuit the Lord-(even if
their circumstances in life
do not immediately improve,
they still continue to
gather for worship).
An authentic work of God in
their heart will be
evidenced by fruit that
remains, not by temporary
tears and church
attendance.
Israel did not fool God,
only themselves. If we
have been far from the Lord
and consequences from our
sin have caught up with us,
are our tears those from
brokenness or just sadness
from our situation? Have we
gathered again because we
are hungering and thirsting
for righteousness? Do
we want God to change our
heart or just the
circumstances in our life?
