Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen, royal house! This judgment is against you: You have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor. Hosea 5:1 (NIV)
Today I want to talk about something serious, something not talked about often enough. A true problem in society: ugly kids. Is there anything sadder than ugly kids? Cute kids get all the perks; they’re exempt from punishment, chores, and consequences: “You just broke my favorite vase! You’re too cute! What am I going to do with you? Here’s a cookie!” But ugly kids don’t know perks like that. There’s always that one kid that if he’s lost, I’m not saying you won’t go after him to find him, it just might take you a little longer to get your shoes on. Poor ugly kid!
Of course I’m just kidding about all of that.
Either ugly or cute, no one is exempt from God’s discipline. That’s what today’s verse is about. Neither the religious privileges of the priests, nor the multitude of the Israelites, nor the civil dignity of the king, exempted any from God's judgment.
The lesson must be clear: No one is exempt from God’s discipline. God doesn’t buy our excuses. All we overlook and excuse can’t be by a holy God. “Yeah Pastor, but I’m a church goer! I give to the church! I serve in the church! I do all this stuff right. Why can’t God just give me this one thing? My thing? For all I do, doesn’t He owe me one? He won’t really deal with my sin, right? God and I have a special thing, an understanding.”
No one is exempt. God disciplines those He loves. If you’re His and you’re doing things to hurt yourself and others (because all sin hurts you and others), than God’s wanting to deal with it. There is no privilege, posture, or position you can hide behind.
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