The prophet Hosea taught a great lesson on the nature of sin. He was told to marry Gomer, who became unfaithful to him and finally left him to live with here lovers. Later, God told him to buy her back and accept her as his wife, which he did.

Gomer’s leaving her husband was a result of internal unfaithfulness. She ceased to love her husband and she sought her satisfaction from others. Her leaving was simply an expression of the inner infidelity that existed.

In this experience, God taught Hosea a valuable lesson about Israel’s unfaithfulness to Him. Just as Hosea wanted more than a housekeeper, God wanted more than external forms of service. Just as Gomer ceased to love Hosea, and trust him to supply her needs, Israel had ceased to love and trust God before they turned to idolatry.

There is a valuable lesson in this for us. God desires our love and devotion. If He gets this, He will get our external faithfulness. If He does not get this, then even our outward forms of service will be in vain. Just as Hosea did not want simply a housekeeper, God does not want half-hearted, ritualistic, haphazard service. The external unfaithfulness manifested by many who claim to be children of God is simply the expression of the lack of internal love and trust.

“My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways...Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life” (Prov. 23:26; 4:23). When people give their hearts to God, faithfulness in conduct is the natural result. Paul said that the Macedonians “first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God...For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have” (2 Cor. 8:5,12). When our priorities are in order, the service that follows will naturally be bountiful and cheerful.

It is heart-rending to see a marriage fall apart because of  unfaithfulness, but no one ever committed adultery who was not first unfaithful in his heart. It is likewise grievous to see those who are married to Christ (Rom. 7:4), become unfaithful in their service to God. This unfaithfulness was also preceded by an inner lack of love and trust that could only be seen in the initial stages by God.

The consequences of unfaithfulness in marriages are devastating. Gomer’s choices hurt not only her husband, but also ended with her being sold on the slave-market by “lovers” who cared nothing for her. Likewise, the consequences of unfaithfulness to our commitment to Christ are tragic. The loss of happiness  through spiritual fellowship with other children of God, as well as the loss of eternal fellowship with the saved, is  the fruit of unfaithfulness that begins in the heart.

Jesus said that the greatest commandment is: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Mt. 22:37). He also said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me” (Jn. 14:23,24).