Reading in Hosea this morning and some repeated words hit me in a fresh way, waves of wonder crashing over me as I not only chew on them but hear them whispered to me again . . .

“I will betroth you to Me . . . “

If you know Hosea’s story, you know it’s not your conventional Hallmark love story. It’s not guy meets the girl of his dreams, guy and girl fall in love, guy and girl live happily every after. No, this is guy marries girl “of the streets”, guy and girl have kids (maybe not all his), girl leaves guy to go back to the streets, yet guy still shows his love for the girl by redeeming her from her enslaving lifestyle choices. Kind of an unbelievable love story, actually.

And yet, I’m reminded this morning of how much it is my love story. And no, I’m not the guy in the story. I’m the girl. Jesus is the guy. And why does He keep drawing on the price paid once-for-all on Calvary’s cross in order to repeatedly rescue me from myself? It’s because of those repeated words . . .

“I will betroth you to Me forever. I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.”

(Hosea 2:19-20 ESV)

Like the star-struck Shulammite of Solomon’s Song, this morning I hear the voice of my Beloved (Song 6:13, 2:8a), “I will betroth you to Me” — words He’s been whispering since I first started understanding the implications of my feeble yet faith-fueled “I do” to Him over 40 years ago.

I didn’t choose Him, He betrothed Me to Himself. I didn’t pick Him, He in sovereign grace decided to propose to me. And that we’re “still together” after more than four decades isn’t so much a testament to my faithfulness as it is to His and His abounding grace and the enduring atonement made for my propensity towards waywardness — all of it, past, present, and future. And how come? Because He has purposed, “I will betroth you to Me.”

Betrothed forever. Betrothed in righteousness — His righteousness. Betrothed in justice — the priced paid in full. Betrothed in steadfast love. Betrothed in mercy. Betrothed in faithfulness — not mine, but His.

Oh, the wonder of being the bride of Christ. To be His delight. To anticipate standing before Him in all the splendor and beauty and perfection He has purposed for us. The righteousness imputed to us. The righteousness imparted to us as, over a lifetime, He has made us more like Himself through the sanctifying work of the Spirit. And more than once through that time, He has rescued us from ourselves and our tendencies to want to go back and live like we used to.

“I will betroth you to Me . . .”

Thank you, Lord.

For Your grace. To you be the glory.