Hosea 4:1-3
1 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites,
because the Lord has a charge to bring
against you who live in the land:
“There is no faithfulness, no love,
no acknowledgment of God in the land.
2 There is only cursing, lying and murder,
stealing and adultery;
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Because of this the land dries up,
and all who live in it waste away;
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea are swept away.
As I said on Sunday, I find this a startlingly contemporary passage for one so old; it could be written for today when we’re seeing the impact of our greed, over-consumption and lack of care for the planet and each other have dramatic effects on our climate and biodiversity. We’ve seen floods, fires, failed crops, extinctions and hardship, and the bottom line is that much of it is humanity’s fault, our fault. So what can we do about this? Perhaps a first and crucial step is for us to acknowledge to God that it is our fault, ask for forgiveness, and his help to change, remembering that he is a God of grace who sees us and our world with eyes of compassion.
Father, forgive us for what we’ve done to your precious gift.
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