Morning Cloud

Sometimes I roll out of bed to go to my morning classes, look up at the sky as I walk out the door toward my bike, and see that it is completely overcast. An hour later I walk out of the classroom and it is completely sunny out, with hardly a trace of cloud anywhere! Sometimes it's frustrating because I can't figure out what the day is going to give me. Once I start mentally preparing for overcast and possibly rain, but then it ends up being wonderfully sunny and warm out; this forces me to change my mindset toward the day. The weather is fickle, you could say. The morning cloud does not give a true picture of what the day will really be like. This is exactly the charge that the LORD brings against Ephraim and Judah in Hosea 6. They are fickle, and their sacrifices do not reflect their heart:

"Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away" (4b).

God desires a love that is settled on Him, not one that is constantly looking for the next best thing to come around. You could say He is looking for marriage, not recreational dating. He desires a commitment and that from the heart, not just in word and outer appearance: "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice" (6a). We're striving here for a love that lasts.

Sometimes I wonder if I have that kind of love. There have been times in the past where I was simply not enticed by the prospect of reading God's Word, or when I deliberately defy his clear commands. How it hurts to even think of such a time! I think there is a comfort in knowing that I am not and can never be worthy enough to keep God from destroying me. That might sound strange, but it simply entails that it must be God Himself who is empowering me to have a continued faithfulness - a fact clearly attested to by the rest of Scripture. That is a freeing concept! I can obey my master with a full heart; my failings and defiance are washed away and never held against me because of the blood of Christ.