I have just completed an intensive block of classes at Hope International University that included a personal development track titled “Classics Curriculum I”. We really only had perhaps three lectures with the instructor of that track, a fellow named David Timms, but it was dynamite.
Problem: dynamite is messy. It is destructive. It hurts when it goes off too close to you. But, it does a great job of clearing away stuff that ought to be demolished… and this track was dynamite in my own spiritual life.
It showed me how badly I have been “languishing”.
It showed me how much I needed new and deep impetus to get moving again.
And, it served as that impetus. That’s another thing about dynamite: if you have the courage to throw yourself onto it, it can put you on a trajectory you’d never manage in your own strength.
I’ll let the instructor define my peril for you. Perhaps you share it with me.
In HOPE 7.2 David Timms
“There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing, and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and every one who lives in it languishes.” (Hosea 4:2-3a, NASB)
We Languish
Languish. Synonyms abound for this rich English word: droop, fade, grow indifferent, listless, weak, and feeble. It’s exactly what Hosea wanted to say. The people of Israel had grown complacent about life, each other, and sin. Nothing really mattered: not their word, not their neighbors, not marriages, not civility.
As Hosea sought to describe the pitiful state of his day, he chose a Hebrew word that translates well with “languish.” And the message he delivered 2750 years ago, still strikes with considerable force.
The very offenses Hosea identified in Israel have become the stuff of our entertainment. Swearing, deception, murder, stealing, adultery, and violence form the sub-plots to our movies and the grist for our daily news.
And we languish.
It’s not that we approve these things. Rather, they intrigue us and draw us like moths to a flame. The sin of our culture has ceased to horrify us and now titillates us. Gradually, perhaps imperceptibly, we grow insensitive to “righteousness, justice, love, and compassion” (Hosea 2:19-20). But the vices we tolerate, innoculate us from abundant life.
And we languish.
Sin undermines our intimacy with Christ. Always has; always will. Our denial of it, indifference to it, or tolerance of it limits the depths to which we can know Him. When cursing and lies become the norm, when life is cheap and marriage is meaningless, when violence thrills us rather than grieves us, our hearts stiffen and our spirits wilt.
We languish.
Tragically, Israel never heeded Hosea’s warning. They stumbled about in a spiritual daze, blinded by the toxic effect of their collective and private sin. They refused to repent and the outcome was devastating - a ruined land; a listless people.
Sin still seduces us, until what we call “life” is but a pale reflection of what the Father intended.
In our pursuit of godliness, prosperity, and abundance, may we rise above the indifference of ancient Israel. In our own lives, may our search for God also include ruthless surgery on our sin. “I will go away and return to My place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face.” (Hosea 5:15)
And we’ll live!
In HOPE -
David
