The Threat of Reconciliation
Daily Old Testament Reading: Hosea 9-12
Daily Focus Passage: Hosea 9
Rationalization threatens all of us. Rationalization occurs when we attempt to lessen the severity of our sins and justify our actions by comparing them to others or providing an argument to make our actions okay. The issue with rationalization is that it promotes not seeking genuine forgiveness or reconciliation because it rejects taking ownership of your sins and actions. The people of Isreal displayed a life of rationalization. As the people attempted to rationalize their activities, the prophet Hosea proclaimed a message that confronted this threat.
RATIONALIZATION DISCOUNTS THE MESSAGE AND THE MESSENGER
The threat of rationalization centers on elevating the self and rejecting and refusing to listen to the messenger's message. The act of rationalization refuses to hear the message from the Lord that calls people to repentance. The rationalizer ignores the message that would identify their sin or downplay the message as unimportant. The rejection of the message occurs with the rejection of the messenger.
The person who rationalizes disobedience in their life refuses to respect or listen to the messenger. They attack the messenger and often create a picture of a messenger unaware of the true dynamic, unconcerned with their feelings, or just out of touch with reality. The rationalizer often attempts to practice character assassination to support their rationalized reality.
RATIONALIZATION FLOWS FROM THE FLESH
The threat of rationalization flows from the prideful existence in the flesh. The pride of life pushes people to think more highly of the self than they should and promotes a dynamic where justification of sin becomes normative. The flesh fights to maintain the pursuit of momentary gratification and the ways that appear right to humanity. The flesh attempts to lower the level of obedience before the Lord to the place of elevating the self.
The flesh tends to base fulfillment on the places, property, and people of this world. We rationalize value by the people we know, our property, and the places we go. The person caught in rationalizing attempts to find comfort and satisfaction in the flesh, and the use of rationalizing exists to convince the self and others that everything is good and okay.
What areas in life do you attempt to rationalize your actions or thoughts? What parts of your life do you refuse to own? When you consider the threat of rationalization, do you recognize the parts of your life where you fall prey to rationalizing your disobedience before the Lord? May we take the message of Hosea, heed the warning, and seek to repent of the moments when we attempt to rationalize our lives.
