A Prayer About God’s Contra-Conditional Love
The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. Hosea 3:1-2
Heavenly Father, for many years I’ve marveled at what I’ve only known to call your “unconditional love.” And yet I now understand the magnificence and measure of your love is far more stupefying. You don’t simply love your people “unconditionally”-without conditions, but “contra-conditionally”-against all conditions, that is, in full view of every condition that mitigates against your lavish passionate affections being set on us and poured out on us consistently.
Hosea’s profoudly difficult calling to love Gomer, his adulterous wife, was a gospel-parable of the way you love your people, the way you love me. You don’t pretend about anything. You see every foolish action I take and every sinful inclination of my heart to look to other people, things, and “gods” to bring me “life” and joy. My sin is not merely “making mistakes,” or “immaturity,” or “weakness and brokenness.” It’s spiritual adultery-a prostituting of what belongs to you… me. And yet, you continue to love me… and all of your people.
Indeed, Father, it’s the weight of your love, not the weight of your law, that moves us to repentance and obedience. It’s only your incomparable love that moves us to worship you with penitent tears and unspeakable joy. It’s only your irrepressible love that enables us to accept the calling to love difficult people in difficult stories.
Father, how can you love us so contra-conditionally? Not through the ransom of “fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley”… only through the gift of your Son’s perfect life and costly death for us.
Jesus, we are certain of God’s contra-conditional love only because we are certain you have met all conditions for us. Indeed, we are the unlikely bride you bought for yourself out of the marketplace of our sin and death. What wondrous love is this, indeed… so very Amen, we pray with wonder, love and praise.