Spiritual Adultery

The book of Hosea, which we discussed in Home Fellowship this week, calls Israel an adulterer to God. This imagery is used to say that Israel as a whole, and the individuals within it, at the time of Hosea, were for all practical purposes, whoring themselves out while still married to YHWH.

This imagery and thought process are still very applicable today, as we live in a society as believers in Jesus Christ who easily focus on anything but him. This love for and putting hope in so many other things is spiritual adultery. This seems like really strong language and imagery. Rarely have I done something that I would see on the same level as adultery.

However, I think that highlights one of the biggest struggles we Christians face. That struggle is really believing and understanding that our relationship with God is just that...a relationship. My buddy Matt brought forth that simple idea to my head, and I've been mulling over it, and the context of Hosea really brings it out more to me.

I think the top reason that we don't see our sin as spiritual adultery is because we don't see our interactions with God as a relationship. Instead, it can feel like God is Mr. Distant Rule Maker. But he has come to interact with us and love us. So when we cheat on him with our sinful nature, it is adultery, and it must hurt Him.

So let us believe in the power of our sin and how much damage it can cause, but let us truly live in and believe that God is in relationship with us. Perhaps this will help us to grasp the weight of our sin.