Press the play button to watch the video above or press 'more' to read the transcript of the daily devotion below. Please read Hosea 14: 1-9 (use your own Bible or use the link above to access the in-App Bible).

At this time of year creation is barren and desolate. The natural world abounds with dead and decaying things. There is more darkness than light. Though we know spring is coming, it feels a long time away. Like a glimmer of hope, out of sight that can’t be grasped. I wonder if that’s a little how it felt for the people of God in Hosea’s time. Life was grim, despairing and bleak. Yet they kept hearing that things could be better. A promise of a future when there would be dew to cause abundance, fine fragrances, blossom on the vine, growth and beauty. A flourishing of life.

They had to act to get there. There had to be a turning to God. He urged and invited them to repentance but they had to respond. Notice that Hosea says the response needs words, ‘Take words with you and return to the LORD’ (v.2). Empty, meaningless sacrifices that weren’t accompanied by obedience were considered worthless by God. He wants them in wholehearted repentance and surrender to Him. And when they respond in repentance, He will meet them with grace, ‘In you the orphan finds mercy’ (v.3).

This is not half-hearted love and acceptance, God will love them freely, heal their disloyalty and cause them to thrive. He promises shoots in the future, stability and new life. They will be a visible splendour, a desirable fragrance to attract others to God.

What an incredible invitation, open and available for each one of us today. No matter how barren we feel, how limpid and insignificant we think our lives are, there is hope. There is one who longs to have us live beneath His shadow. Experiencing and embracing His love, compassion, and tenderness. Today I invite you to speak your words to Him, to turn to Him, to rest in the assurance of His presence in the darkness as in the light.