Listen to this, priests! Attention, people of Israel! Royal family – all ears! You’re in charge of justice around here. But what have you done? Exploited people at Mizpah, ripped them off on Tabor, victimized them at Shittim. I’m going to punish the lot of you. – Hosea 5:1-2 (The Message)

Hosea is a strange book among strange books. It makes you think twice about asking to be a prophet for God. Aside from the fact that many prophets do not die of old age while sleeping in their own beds, God sometimes asks them to do odd things.

God told Hosea to marry a prostitute and to have children by her. The idea was that Hosea’s marriage was a lot like God’s marriage to his children. The notion of a prostitute is that the person trades “love” for money; in thinking of it, don’t we all tend to do something of the kind? We may not be trading “love” for money – we may be trading attention, knowledge, advice, or even a listening ear for companionship, validation, or acceptance. The point is that we are often on the prowl for something that we can’t give ourselves; and we’re not always consistent with our trade-offs so that the other person starts to feel used rather than loved.

Hosea was asked to play the part of God in this marriage. He was to stand by his wife no matter what. That’s something that we don’t often recognize in God. When the Israelites went into exile in Babylon, God went with them. Anytime God sends his people away, he goes with them. He doesn’t make things easy for us, but he shares our burdens and groans right along with us.

The people who should spread true love among God’s people are those in power – the priests, the law makers and the guardians of the law, the heads of the government, the healers, the researchers, the teachers, everyone who affects the population. Many of the people who fill these roles have a heart for those they were created to help. Some people, however, have used their power to enrich others rather than to help those in need.

Loving someone isn’t about giving them everything they ask for. It isn’t about cooking their favorite meal every week or taking them out to dinner on an anniversary. Love is about paying attention to others, finding out why they do the things they do. Love doesn’t manipulate someone to get what you want.

Love is probably one of the most misunderstood of all experiences. Those who lived through the sixties and seventies started out watching people trying to break free of the restricting expectations of society – and that was a good thing! Somewhere along the line, however, the good intentions went astray until many of us have returned to a desire for power which seems to demand more “boxes”! It might be a good idea to take a look at ourselves to see why we’re doing what we’re doing!

Becky Gillette is a former teacher, newspaper reporter, and preacher who seeks to take an original approach to life’s lessons. She has recently published her first book, Jessie’s Corner: Something To Think About. Based on several lesser-known scriptures from the Bible, this is a collection of articles which she wrote for a weekly newspaper.