~ Good morning!

Here is our Bible verse for today. It’s found in …

• Hosea‬ ‭6:6 •

“I’d rather for you to be faithful and to know Me than to offer sacrifices.” (CEV‬‬)

Here, we see the two great requirements of Hosea’s writing. God spoke through Hosea and said, “What I really want from you is your love, and for you to really know Me.” From creation, Father God has wanted to have a relationship with His people.

There are many Christian’s who have a “token” relationship with the Lord. They attend church occasionally, they serve only when they are asked, they give a few bucks if they’re at church. There’s not really a commitment to the Lord, and faithfulness to Him is thought, but not lived out.

Then there are other believers who do attend church faithfully, they do give financially, they do serve more than occasionally, but they are habitual and not relational. They simply go through the motions without any real consideration for a deeper relationship with the Lord.

In today’s verbiage, in Hosea 6:6, Father God is saying to His Church — “Rather than your church attendance, your hymn-singing, your offering giving and your sermon listening, I want you to love Me, I want you to be faithful to Me, I want you to be committed to Me, I want you to have a relationship with Me, I want you to be fully devoted to Me.”

• Our Church attendance is Biblical and of most importance for successful Christian living.

• Our financial giving is Biblical and blessed by God. It’s God’s Word, that when we give financially to the Lord, and His church, we are rewarded and blessed by God.

• Our volunteerism is vitally important to the operation, and continuation, of the local church. The church needs your involvement.

However, more important than all of that, is your salvation, your sins forgiven and your sincere, committed relationship with Jesus.

Jesus wants you more than what you can give Him. — He wants you to be in a right relationship with Him so that He can pour into your life and bless you.

Let’s stop just going through the motions. Let’s be Fully Devoted to Jesus, and let’s start now!

I love you, I believe in you and I’m committed to helping you live out a fully devoted life lived for Jesus.

Sincerely,

— Pastor Gene