None the Less

Return O Israel to the Lord your God,
Your sins have been your downfall.


I will heal their waywardness and love them freely.

Hosea 14:1, 4a



There is a song by Third Day that is pretty much a summary of the book of Hosea. The lines that speak to the most say, “She’s forgotten her first love. He’s forgotten that she ever went away and broke his heart.” Wow! That says it all to me. I can’t recall, nor do I care to, the number of times I’ve walked away from God, forgotten my first love. I know I have repeatedly broken his heart and yet, he has forgotten. How is that possible?

I have four children, all of whom I dearly love. Through the years there have been offenses, of course. Some I remember too clearly, others are vague and still others may have happened but they are gone from my mind. Some are gone, not all. Whenever a new incident occurs I try very hard not to see it in light of things that came before. I cling to, “love keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13:5) and often that helps. It fails for sure when my past wrongs are being thrown in my face. It fails as well when I am being accused of not loving enough or caring enough. I want to shout out, “Are you kidding me? Do you know how many times I’ve ignored the fact that you’ve shown me disrespect? Or given me the cold shoulder? Or mocked me?” I do not shout these things as I realize that they are not only hurtful and valueless but that they will have little to no effect on the listener, i.e. the injured party.

In sharp contrast I look at the way my Father in heaven treats me. As I said, I have forgotten God, hoped like crazy that he was looking the other way and in other varying ways chosen to ignore his existence. What does he do in response? He loves me and forgets that I leave and break his heart. I ask again, how is that possible? Nowhere does it say that God wants to shout at me, “Are you kidding me right now? After all I’ve done for you? After all your talk about how closely you follow me? With no due respect, grow up!” But he doesn’t. He waits. He beckons. He hopes, that I will grow up, use my brain get a clue and come back but he does not rant and rave. He waits and he loves me, as the song says, “none the less.”

That’s another phrase that gets me. In conversation it can be a throwaway phrase. We tack it on in places where it rarely belongs. It’s a cousin of things like “not for nothing” or “in a manner of speaking.” Sometimes those phrases fit but often they just fill a space. The use of the words, “none the less” in the Third Day song are used like this, “He deserves the very best; but he loves her none the less.” He [God] loves her [unfaithful Israel and feel free to pop your own name in there if it fits] none--- the--- less.

Think about that. We leave. We sin. We question his authority. We rant and rave. We complain. We beg. We break the heart of the God of the universe, the Creator, the reason we’re here. And what does he do? He loves us none the less. Not a smidgen less! His love waits pure and whole for us to reach out and pluck from his open hand.

In the book of Hosea, Gomer, Hosea’s wife, is a piece of work and a half. She’s a prostitute, a liar, a big ole’ mess, as they say here in the South. God says to Hosea, “go get her and bring her home.” (Hosea 3:1) Hosea does not say, “Awe gee Dad! Do I have to?” He just goes. Is his heart in it? Would yours be? Ours is not to question why. Ours is to be obedient. Go, do, be, give, spend, save, work, rest, forgive, love, accept, whatever the command the response should be the same. “Yes, sir.”

He [God] deserves the very best. We should give it to him. But don’t worry…. He loves us all, none the less.