I Cannot Do It

“ How shall I give thee up?” Hosea 11:8

T his chapter begins with God recounting His love for His people. As a father deeply loves his newborn son, so doth the Lord love His own.

Though their Father had taught them and cared for them, these children were bent on doing their own thing. Failing to be drawn back by His goodness, the time had come for Him to deal with their sin. He was wroth. They were deserving. The clouds of provoked wrath brooded over them.

What He has promised us – “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,” “Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it,” “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ” – He will fulfill.

May this text ring in our ears and spring from our lips when pressures increase in our family life, our hearts become weary in our church life and we feel that the pain of leaving could not be greater than the pain of staying – “How shall I give thee up?” And, may our answer be, “I cannot do it; by God’s grace, I will not.”

–Tim Cruse