HOSEA 6:3 – Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

In our reading of the Gospels, and I do hope we spend regular times in the Gospels, have we noticed a frequent way Jesus teaches? Oh, by the way, here is a word or two of advertisement for reading the Gospels daily. First, if we read only three chapters of the Gospels every day, we will complete all four each month. Combined, they contain eighty-nine chapters so we may read all four and still have a day to spare each month. Next, imagine the impact of watching Jesus interact with people, teaching His disciples, showing love, and so many other things twelve times in a year? We would know and love Him more, as well as learn more how to follow Him by example. Okay, the promo for the Gospels is over. Now back to the question, “Have we noticed the simplicity in our Lord’s method of teaching?” For instance, how did He teach the disciples the lesson about worry and anxiety? Birds and flowers. He would say in His Sermon on the Mount, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? (Matthew 6:25-30). The Lord uses His physical creation to teach spiritual lessons, and there is one in today’s scripture as well.

When it comes to our desire and actual experience of spiritual growth of becoming like Christ, it is easy to get discouraged. Too often, we struggle with the same sins feeling like we make no progress. Also, we may see little of the Fruit of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control(Galatians 5:22-23a),sprouting on the branches of our lives and get down on ourselves. Don’t go there. Yes, do healthy self-examination but not morbid self-condemnation. Remember, God’s ways are not our ways, and neither is His timing our timing. God is at work all the times in His children making them like Christ. And today’s scripture reveals a simple lesson on spiritual growth taught from creation.

The prophet Hosea challenges us by these words, “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn.” As he points to our responsibility–press on to know the Lord; he reminds us of the God’s faithfulness to reveal Himself by pointing to the dawn, the start of a new day–His going out is as sure as the dawn. Rely on this creation reality. In fact, get up early, maybe even tomorrow, and watch the sunrise welcoming the dawn of a new day. As it slowly but surely happens, use the physical scene to teach a spiritual lesson on how God grows us spiritually-slowly but surely as the dawn of a new day.

PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for the lessons I may learn from creation about my spiritual walk with You.”

QUOTE: “Jesus taught many lessons to His disciples by creation. Take time and be taught by what we see in creation.”