“I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal, when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.” Jeremiah 2:2
He said, “I know you by name, and you have found grace in My sight.” So she asked Him, “Show me Your way, that I may know You. Please show me Your glory…” And so, He lovingly took her by the hand and led her through the valley, through the desert… His presence ever before her. He brought her into a bountiful country, to eat of its fruit and its goodness. But when she entered, she defiled the land. She committed two evils… she forsook her Love as she took to her bosom many lovers. She conceived and bore Him children of harlotry. He named them No Mercy and Not my People. He said to them, “Bring charges against your mother, for she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband!” He said, “Let her put away her harlotries from her sight.”
And so, He turned His face away from her for a time, as she chased after her many lovers. And although she pursued them, she never overtook them. Yes, she sought them, but she never laid claim to them. And so, she remembered. She said, “I will go and return to my first Husband. For then it was better for me than it is now.” And He took her back. Although she forgot Him and went after her lovers, He allured her back to Him. He spoke comfort to her. In that day, she sang… as in the days of her youth… as in the days of her early betrothal. And it became as it was before… she again called Him her Husband.
He betrothed her to Him forever… He betrothed her to Him in righteousness, in justice, in lovingkindness, and in mercy. He is the One who betrothed her to Him… in faithfulness. He lovingly told her, “You shall know the LORD.”
**taken from the books of Exodus, Jeremiah and Hosea
painter's daughter (a work in progress) 