I'm a whore!

Caught your attention, huh?

The series we're in at Crossroads (where I go to church) right now is "Knockoff". It's all about recognizing when you have the real thing or a cheap imitation. Of course none of you ladies would be caught dead with an "knockoff" Louis Vuitton or Gucci purse! I on the other hand, shamelessly, have bought knockoff sunglasses, watches, wallet, etc. I like the look of them and I suppose the "status" they portray but I don't want the commitment of dropping a LOT of money to have them. Behind that money is a lot of hours of work and, in my case serving in Jamaica, literally blood, sweat and tears. So I recognize that the "real thing" is not worth the effort behind it.

What about our relationships. . . and our relationship with God? In the Bible God told the prophet, Hosea, (hey, they named the book after him!) to take a wife "of whoredom"; a prostitute! What? Why?

Hosea 1:2 "When Jehovah spake at the first by Hosea, Jehovah said unto Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredom and children of whoredom; for the land doth commit great whoredom, departing from Jehovah."

God wanted His prophet, Hosea, to represent what God had been putting up with. God's people had turned from Him and started worshiping Baal. They had taken the cheap, easy route instead of putting forth the effort and trust in God. They had essentially been cheating on God, giving themselves to a cheap imitation, a knockoff, of the true God. (of course there is this whole back story of what it means to "worship" Baal by having sex with temple prostitutes) God wanted Hosea to know what it meant to love someone who was unfaithful as God's people had been unfaithful to Him.

In line with my last post, and how God is speaking to me, I have come to realize that I am putting my trust and hope and worship in something other than God. I am worshiping knockoffs! I am essentially "whoring" myself out! I don't want to put the effort into the real thing! It's a lot of effort! It's hard! But He wants me to give Him my all! He wants me to realize that the real thing is so much better than the cheaper, knockoff version. As I continue this journey I am starting to recognize when I am  putting my worship elsewhere. I think it's the first step of eliminating the focus on these other things and putting my trust in God. I want to have a REAL, authentic relationship with my God, not a knockoff!

Are you a whore? What "knockoffs" do you have in your life?