2-15-2022

    Good Morning All,

             Hosea 14:4; “I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.”  

     When my nephews were little and needed some discipline, they would have to sit on “the bad chair.”  Nobody wanted to sit on the bad chair. It sat in the corner of the kitchen and did not look any different than any other chair. If you moved it to the table, it was ok but as long as it sat in the corner, it was “the bad chair.”  The first time I encountered “the bad chair” was quite by accident. We were visiting them, and we were gathered around the kitchen, and I went and sat on the “bad chair;” I did not know any better. I just got sat down when my little nephew’s eyes got huge and he shouted, “Uncle Bret’s sitting on the bad chair!!”  I thought the chair was broken so I jumped up, not sure of what I had done; everyone else laughed. The power of sitting on that chair was firmly ensconced in that young boy’s mind. Nobody ever wanted to sit on that chair.

    This was just the place for a rambunctious child to sit and think about what he had done and why it was wrong. After the set amount of time, he was allowed to go back to playing again. Sometimes, mom or dad was pretty angry when someone was placed on the chair but as the time went by the anger faded and all was well again. 

    This is what God is telling us here. We call it many things; mistakes, over rambunctious, errors in judgment, slip ups, whatever; the truth is we sin. We violate God’s law and go against His holy will. We do this even as we profess to know better. So, we sit on the “bad chair.”  The thing about the “bad chair” is that we always miss out on the good things. For the child placed there by their parent, the fun of playtime or even a special treat goes by as he sits and misses out on the enjoyment of life. The same is true for us. When we sit in sin, in apostasy, we miss out on God’s blessings; not because God withholds them, we just missing out on being spiritually connected to God. When we are on the “bad chair,” we see the sad side of life and fail to see God’s blessings because sin has clouded our eyes and vision.

   Yet God continually heals us. Through the mercy we have in Jesus’ atoning sacrifice, God renews us, restores us, and heals our ruptured soul of sin. God heals us with his love and because of his love, He is not angry with us. He restores us to His holy family and gives us the hope of salvation and comfort in this life through His Spirit. You are healed because you are loved.

 Dearest Father, your mercies are new to us each day and they roll over us like a river. We praise you for your healing touch and for bringing us into your wonderful kingdom. We pray that all may know this peace. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret