returning the love.

2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels [a] of silver and about a homer and a lethek [b] of barley. 3 Then I told her, "You are to live with [c] me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live with [d] you."

God's love for us is conditional; there is one thing we must do in return; we must love Him back; we must surrender our whole, entire hearts to Him and Him only; He must be the only one; no questions, no if's, no exceptions. That's the condition.

Hosea understood God's condition. His heart was fully given to God, not Gomer. Perhaps he loved her, but his real love was for God, which then resonanted and spilled over to wife. The only real way he could accept her back was through his faithfulness to God. Without God's love, I'm sure it would be difficult for him to take her back.

Perhaps if we would dedicate our lives to God, wholly and completely, we would be able to do even the hardest tasks we're confronted with daily. Perhaps we would love like we have never loved before.