How was your 4th of July celebrations? I hope it went well for you and for your loved ones. I found myself thinking about why do we celebrate Independence day anyway and eventually decided to review the history of this holiday with my kids. I don’t know about you, but when I was in grade school, History was my least favorite subject. I thought, what was the point of studying the PAST??? Well, now that I am older…….. I am understanding the value that comes from studying and learning from the past. The Bible is full of stories from people in the past.

Last week, the short devotional we heard was based on the book of Hosea entitled, “When you say I DO to I AM” by Jennifer Rothschild. (Summary video of the book of Hosea here that might be helpful.) When we look at the history of our country or even our own lives………….. we can see from where we came. Our country’s history isn’t all honorable and likewise, for many of us, our past was not that clean either. But Jesus, in all His glory, He still came for us. He still came for me. Jennifer R. said, “It’s so unlikely!! That’s our love story. It’s so unlikely that GOD would choose to love us.” Yet He did. (Deut 7:6-11) (1 John 4:8)

Jennifer R. ended the devotional with this, “When you say, ‘I DO’ to the great ‘I AM’ you became the Beloved. You are not the Be tolerated. You are not the Behave really good so He will love you. You are not the Be good so God will accept you- Because God IS love and He set his affections on you- you ARE loved and therefore His love makes you lovely.” – Jennifer R.