Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of the Lord , ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. In our verse today we see three things in the lives of God's people that they needed to confront. The people had rejected the absolute truth and lost their compassion for others. (Mercy) Ultimately they did not know God, which was seen in their life of disobedience. Today let us ask ourselves the question, "What is it about my life today that bothers God?" Remember God never becomes accustomed to our sin. Let's confront what needs to change so that we can walk daily at peace with God.

Ephesians 6:6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart There are often multiple reasons for doing something. For example: We might go to work because we feel an obligation or because we love what we do or because we simply need the money. Yet, the one reason that needs to be first and foremost is the conviction that we are doing the will of God. The surrounding verses of our text for today deal with the relationship between employees and employers (masters and servants) In that context we are challenged to “do the will of God from the heart”. Today, let us approach each responsibility of every area of our life with a commitment to doing God’s will from the heart. This commitment will put every day-to-day obligation we have into eternal perspective as we do it to please the God we know and love.

Ephesians 1:5-6 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. So many people are doing so many things to try to earn God’s acceptance. Yet, in our verse today we are reminded that we find acceptance in Christ and in Him alone. It is true that every believer is called upon to live a holy life after salvation. But nothing we ever do can make us worthy of God’s love and grace. So today let us do right. Let us seek to be all that God would have us to be. But let us do it all, not so that God will accept us, but because He already has, the moment we trusted Christ as our Savior.

Jeremiah 42:6 Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the Lord our God. The people of God we're responding to the word of God as told to them by Jeremiah. In this one verse one of the challenges to obedience is set forth. We never know all that will happen if we choose to obey God. The words "good" and "evil" point out the two possible extremes. Sometimes we obey God and everything seems to work out great. At other times our obedience appears to lead to disaster. Yet we are called upon to obey God, not because of the results, but because it is right. Our judgment as to the outcome of any act of obedience is skewed by our human limitations. So today let us refrain from qualified obedience to God's Word by only doing what God says when we can determine and like the outcome. Let us abandon our choices to God's word and leave the consequences to God's love.