Once upon a time, there was a good, upright man named Hosea. God told Hosea to marry a prostitute who was named Gomer. Gomer was a shameless flirt who had many lovers, and even when she was married to Hosea, she often had children by other men. However, none of her lovers stayed with her or loved her faithfully the way Hosea did. Hosea provided for her, clothed her, fed her, and forgave her over and over and over again each time she betrayed him. Can you imagine how it must’ve been for Hosea? I bet a part of him died every time his wife took advantage of his kindness and chased after other men. Ultimately, Gomer realized that Hosea was the only faithful one to her, and she returned to him and was a faithful wife to him, and they lived happily ever after.

Not your typical Disney princess story. And yet, the love in it is so much more powerful and deeper than the artificial love-at-first-sight fairy tales we’ve heard since we were little kids. In today’s courts, Hosea would have had every right to divorce Gomer and leave her on the streets. Hosea was kind and faithful; he constantly forgave his wife. What did Gomer deserve? If you were Hosea, would you have put up with a spouse like that? I don’t think anyone really deserves that sort of beautiful, constant love – Gomer certainly didn’t. And yet, there is a God who loves us so relentlessly and deeply that He would die for us and go through Hell in order to rescue us from our wayward sinfulness. In the end, none of us are any better or more deserving than Gomer. As we celebrate Valentine’s Day once again, I challenge you to consider this self-sacrificial love, and I hope that in the end, you too will turn, like Gomer, to God, realizing that He is the only one who will ever faithfully love you forever.