"But now I am going to woo her - I will bring her out to the desert and I will speak to her heart.
Hosea 2:14
"To woo" means to allure, to charm or persuade - much like a lover makes plans to capture his loved one's heart.
Imagine then, the God of the whole Cosmos making arrangements to be alone with you in order to speak His words of Love, Mercy and Grace.
When someone is in love, they want to spend time where it's just the two of them together.
There they can speak softly and tenderly and express their feelings to one another - look into each others eyes and breathe in the togetherness.
In this chapter of Hosea, the Lord is planning such a liaison with Israel, who had gone after other "gods" and forgotten Him.
He wants no distractions, so He chooses to lead "her" into the desert.
There, in that barrenness, He can express His love and woo her back to that first devotion to Him.
It can happen in our own walk with Jesus. Other distractions pull out hearts away from that close relationship with Him.
The "busy-ness" of life drains away the "one on one" fellowship with the "Lover of my soul".
God will take drastic steps to restore the intimacy once shared and lead us into desert times.
Isn't it amazing that God values that closeness so much - He will go to the uttermost to keep us next to His heart.
We only have to look to the Cross to see just how much we mean, individually, to Him.
He paid the Ultimate Price to win us over.
He's not interested in coercion, He wants to woo you with words and acts that demonstrate that love.
In John 13 that act resulted in bending down and washing His disciples' dirty feet.
Today, He bends down to wash the dirtiness of our daily faults and failings and restores that closeness - wooing us with intimate forgiveness.
John 13:1 AMPC
[Now] before the Passover Feast began, Jesus knew (was fully aware) that the time had come for Him to leave this world and return to the Father. And as He had loved those who were His own in the world, He loved them to the last and to the highest degree.
Be assured, you are loved by Jesus to the last and highest degree - you matter so much that He was willing to lay down His Life for you.
Isn't SomeOne like that worth getting to know? Shouldn't spending time alone with Him mean everything?
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