Contemplative Bible Reading

Hosea 8:7 (New Living Translation)

“They have planted the wind
and will harvest the whirlwind…

This phrase is often quoted in the circles of the Internet that I frequent. The application is simple:

The people have not been living as God instructed them to live. The awful result is coming.

We often see God’s instructions and recommendations as laws. Laws are bad for us. Well, we often see bad laws, but those bad laws are created by human legislatures, not God. The “laws” of God are instructions for a good life. We bend the instructions, and the whirlwind comes.

Today, I just go in the house and shut the door when the wind blows. Except when the wind is a hurricane, and then there is nothing to do but get in the car and drive far away.

God wants us to be happy. God wants us to have a good life. Really. Follow the instructions. Sometimes we have to do things that aren’t much fun in the short term, but stay with it.