purchased...

I've been reading a book in the bible called Hosea for the past week or so. In a nutshell, it's about redemption, but I feel like every time I open it up, there's another crevasse to explore to its depth...another light-reflecting/illuminating facet. The book has definitely kept me busy in my thoughts this week. One of the things that I keep coming back to is chapter 3, mainly because it's short and profound. Basically, God tells Hosea to love his wife again, who has gone off and become a prostitute. So Hosea goes, and when he finds her he has to buy her back with fifteen shekels of silver and a bunch of barley. I'm not sure if he was all that excited to find her. I wonder if Hosea was pissed off that he had to buy her at all or disappointed because his beloved wife cost so little. Fifteen shekels was not all that much back then. Joseph was sold into Egypt for twenty. If a bull gored a slave, the owner of the bull had to pay the master of the slave thirty shekels and kill the bull. So the damaged slave was worth about twice as much as Hosea's wife. Of course, the barley was probably worth about 75 shekels or so, but still...it seems like a meager price for a beloved bride, even if she was "spoiled."

I've been thinking a lot about worth...about what defines it and how it is measured...about what makes things valuable and what makes things rubbish. I think that God values different things than we do. In His economy, people are worth much more than anything else. Obviously, our value system in America is screwed up. (*Side note: I censored myself and used the word "screwed" instead of a much stronger word. But I really, really wanted to use the stronger word.) We turn everything on its head and create idols out of mortal/tangible things...then waste our time worshiping the decaying rubbish heap disguised as the golden calf and hoping that it will somehow save us. I'm not much different than Hosea's wife...I can be a cheap whore. I can be bought with a winning smile or a pair of deep blue eyes; I can be allured by recognition and money or the hope of the good life. I am trying not to be, but I am still guilty of having "exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things." Hrmmm...what a great definition for sin.

What is even more amazing is that God continues to pursue me in my harlotry. Ruthlessly...relentless...He does not give up on me. I have learned a whole lot about His character through the times when I'm out being a prodigal. I've learned even more about His love and faithfulness when I try to come back home as a slave. He automatically elevates me to bride...a costly redemption, but paid in full. Amazing grace.