Dear Friends,

READ: HOSEA 8:1 THROUGH 14:9

While two college students drove on dark, unfamiliar streets in San Francisco, a red flashing light halted their progress. They pulled over as a policeman emerged from his car and strode over. The driver rolled down his window as the officer approached. “Do you know you are going the wrong way down a one-way street?” The driver hadn’t seen the sign in the dark.

The officer helped them turn around to drive in the right direction and assisted them in finding the location they were seeking.

“Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you” (Hosea 10:12).

A wrong direction can be a mistake, but it can also be a willful choice. Israel pursued a course running from God by choice. When God’s Spirit and His Word reveal a wrong course, it is time to reverse course, to confess sins and return to the Lord. Though humbling, God’s correction brings His children back to the safety of His instructions.

Thought for Today: His Word lights our way and keeps us from falling.