Endurance - Hosea 7-14

 Hosea 13:4-6 (ESV)

But I am the LORD your God

from the land of Egypt;

you know no God but me,

and besides me there is no savior.

It was I who knew you in the wilderness,

in the land of drought;

but when they had grazed, they became full,

they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;

therefore they forgot me.

Therefore they forgot me!!!

That is the saddest line in the above verses, if not the entire Bible.   Notice how Jeremiah composes the same thought about the nation of Israel:

Jeremiah 2:19 (ESV)

Your evil will chastise you,

and your apostasy will reprove you.

Know and see that it is evil and bitter

for you to forsake the LORD your God;

the fear of me is not in you,

declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

So, the forget God and they forsake God.   They turn away from the one who redeemed them.  God took Abraham from no where (Genesis 11) and turned him and his offspring into a mighty nation.   But, instead of following their first love, they wandered away and started worshipping false gods.   We might think we are more superior to them for our constant love for God and His beloved Son, Christ.  But, read what John told the churches in his vision of the Revelation.  Here is what he wrote about the church at Ephesus:

Revelation 2:2-4 (ESV)

“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

God sees our first works.  But, He also wants to see our final works.   We cannot forget Him, or forsake Him.  We must serve Him to the end. If not, we will suffer the consequences that Israel suffered in discipline.   God wants us to to love Him until the end.