In golf, a do over is called a mulligan. At a fast food restaurant, if they happen to make your sandwich incorrectly, and you bring it make to them to do over, it is called a re-make. Woman who get tired of wearing their hair a certain way will go to the beauty parlor and ask for a make- over. And if you get tired of the way your family room looks, you may call someone in to re-decorate it.
Now, whether you call it a mulligan, re-make, a makeover, or a redecoration, it is the same thing it is a do over.
As I read my Bible, I cannot help but notice that God’s people have a history of messing up and then crying out to God and God tells them to return. That is God’s word for a do over. Return. It is an extremely popular word in the Bible used 263 times from cover to cover.
So, I thought we might look at the word “return” today because some of us may be in the need of a do over. We professed Christ as our Savior, but we have not been living like we should. We need a do over! So, if you have your Bibles turn with me to Hosea 14:1-9.
Scripture
Hosea 14:1-9 (NIV)
1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall!
2 Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to him: "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.
3 Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion."
4 "I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon, he will send down his roots;
6 his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
7 Men will dwell again in his shade. He will flourish like the grain. He will blossom like a vine, and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon.
8 O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him. I am like a green pine tree; your fruitfulness comes from me."
9 Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.
POINT #1
WE NEED TO RETURN TO THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD’S WORD CONCERNING SIN.
1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall!
2 Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to him: "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.
I want you to think about this statement for a minute. Every time I sin, I believe the truth of a lie over the truth of God’s Word. Underneath the surface of every sin is a lie that we believed over the truth of God’s Word. It might be- sin will bring me pleasure. It will do something for me that God did not do. And that is a lie.
Let me give you two examples of what I am talking about-one from the Bible and the other from everyday life.
For Eve, the lie she believed is the suggestion made by the devil that if she ate of that tree, she will be like God knowing good and evil. The truth was God said do not eat of that tree for any reason. She believed the lie offered her by the devil rather than God’s own words.
And the same thing is happening to us in everyday life. We are still believing the lies of the devil rather than the truth of God’s Word. The devil tells us that God do not love you because if He did, He would not have let you go through what you are currently going through. And so, we get angry at God, quit praying, quit reading our Bible, and quit going to church. But the truth is God says his plans for you are not to harm you but to give you a future and a hope.
But I got to be honest with myself it seems easier sometimes for me to believe the lie than the truth of God’s Word. And I know why, it is so hard to grasp how much God’s absolutely loves me. And the devil plays to that. He tells me that God is holding something back. If God, really care about you that would not have happened to you. God do not have your back.
And look what it says about the Israelites believing the lie over the truth. “It has been there downfall.” And I just wonder what is happening in our country right now (all the things that are happening) if it is not the result of believing the lies over the truth. And could it possibly be our downfall.
If we are going to return to God, we need to be people of this Holy Bible- we need to be people who live the truth. We got to be a return to the truth, and it is only found in God’s Word! We got to return as a the Bible as a our light unto our path.
Point #2
We need to return to trusting God and God alone.
3 Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion."
It is not that Christians do not trust God; it is that they do not trust God alone. We may trust God, but we also trust in other things. We supplement our trust in God with other things. Many times, we trust God, but we also trust in a family member or a good friend to help us get out of a mess. Many times, we trust God, but we also trust that money we have put aside for that rainy day.
Listen to what Isaiah 31:1 says:
1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.
Look at those first three word- “Woe to those”. Do you realize what that word “woe” means: great distress, sorrow, and troubles? And what the writer is saying is that partial trust in God is no trust in God at all. You are in for troubles in this life if you are trusting in God and something else.
David spells it out for us clearly:
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Look at the words David choses: All your heart…in all your ways. How much is your trust to be in God? 100%.
And David says it to us very clearly in Psalm 91:2 (NIV)
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
David did not say in whom I trust along with…
So, I need to ask myself, am I trusting God alone or do I need to return to trusting God alone?
I need to return to the truth; I need to trust God alone, and then
Point #3
I need to rest in the assurance that God will respond to my returning.
4 "I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon, he will send down his roots;
6 his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
7 Men will dwell again in his shade. He will flourish like the grain. He will blossom like a vine, and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon.
8 O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him. I am like a green pine tree; your fruitfulness comes from me."
You can be assured that God will response in grace. I will heal their relationship and love them freely.
There is one thing to forgive someone, but it is a whole different level when you can love someone and restore the relationship to where it was before the transgression. God says I will forgive them and love them freely. God says it will be like nothing has been between us.
But what must come first, the returning. Returning must come first and then God responses. We want God to make the first move, and instead, He is waiting on you and me. The prodigal father was waiting on his son to return; he did not send out servants looking for him and try t persuade him to come home. But when the Father saw the son a distant away, He ran to him. But the son, had to return from the far country.
God is the original first responder. You return to him; and I promise you that He will respond to you.
And so, it is with us in the year 2020, God is telling you and me today to return. Come to Jesus; He is waiting for you.
Conclusion:
THE WISE AND DISCERNING WILL HEAR WHAT GOD IS TELLING THEM TODAY AND COME. BUT UNFORTUNATELY, SOME WILL STUMBLE OVER THE SIMPLE COMMAND TO RETURN.
9 Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.
Will you come, or will you stumble?
Let us pray!
