"Whoever is wise..." - Reflections from Hosea (#19)

Do you know someone who is wise?

Wise is different from "bright" or "smart" or even "brilliant."

Those latter terms bring to mind someone who perhaps can assimilate a lot of facts quickly, or seems uniquely aware of all the latest information, or trends.  Someone who is particularly capable when it comes to specific subjects like mathematics or chemistry.   A photographic memory.  An individual who seems to forget nothing and can quickly recall what most of us readily forget.

Someone with wisdom is different.  We are amazed at a wise person because he or she is remarkable  in a different, more settled way.  Someone with wisdom has dug a deep well through the various strata of life's experiences, and draws from that well water that truly refreshes sojourners along the way.

A wise person will quietly, humbly offer sips of that water to those whose thirst has failed to be quenched by liters of artificially sweetened sodas.

A wise person knows well life's most important principles and truths--with Whom they can be found, how frequently they should be pondered, how consistently they must be used to shape one's thinking and acting.

At the end of his prophetic book, Hosea sounds a final opportunity:

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things.

Whoever is discerning, let him know them.

(Hosea 14:9a)

The call to the wise and discerning is to "understand these things."  What things?  The previous 14 chapters of prophetic example and warnings come back into view.  

• The fact that the true God of Israel is a relentless lover.  
• That He loves even when His people act like a whoring prostitute.  
• That when His unfaithful bride depletes her life in sin, He will love her again.  
• That persisting in idolatry and trust in other nations and gods for her security will lead to unthinkable judgment.  
• That God's heart churns when thinking about subjecting His people to deserved punishment.
• That the Lord would much rather be like an evergreen cypress, a tree that always offers sweet fruit to His own

Time invested in reflection on life's most important truths--with Whom they can be found, how frequently they should be remembered and pondered, and how consistently they must be used to shape one's life--is time well invested.

Wisely...