Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to him: “Take away all iniquity; receive us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifices of our lips.” –Hosea 14:2 NKJV
Hosea married a woman who kept making a promise of fidelity, but he forever had to go and bring her home from another lover who had whisked her away with some promise that made her feel like what was out there was better than what she had.
Many of us have had the pleasure of enjoying something sweet. While you may not taste anything right now, the promise of it is enough to bring a smile. However, there comes a time when people don’t want to hear about the fruit, smell the fruit, or see the fruit—they want to enjoy the fruit.
Have you been whispering sweet nothings to yourself or to someone else? Do you keep making a promise that you have yet to fulfill? How long ago did you tell yourself that you were going to change and do some things differently, so that you might experience better results in your life? Yet here you are, still hoping for change without doing anything to invoke it.
Sweet nothings are just that … nothing. They only leave you feeling used and mistreated. You enjoy the luster of the thought, but it leaves you feeling hungry because a promise can only be enjoyed fully when it is kept.
The fruit of your lips is not just what comes out of your mouth; it’s a result that comes about when you act affirmatively on what comes out of your mouth. This fulfillment is the sweetness that can turn a bad relationship around, reverse an illness you have been struggling with, or even help you sleep better at night. May you have the courage to taste the fruit that you have been talking about for so long.