One of my Bible heroes is Hosea; he's going to be one of the first people I hug when I get to heaven. Hosea shows us how Christ longs for us to truly know Him.

Hosea's unfaithful wife, Gomer, had a near zero commitment to her husband. Nevertheless, Hosea kept pursuing her, loving her, forgiving her, and constantly picking up the pieces of their relationship. Hosea reveals the depth of God's love for us despite our lies and wandering eyes. Hosea shows how Christ patiently leads us through deep, deep waters until He is all we have left.

Someone has said, "Most of us never discover Christ is all we need until He is all we have." Continually treading deep water will do that for you. Through Gomer's experience, we discern that we must come to the end of ourselves if we are ever to make a marvelous discovery: Jesus is not a burdensome Taskmaster to us, but a loving Husband.

"And it will come about in that day [the deep water day]," declares the Lord, "that you will call me 'my Husband' and will no longer call Me 'my Master'. And I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in loving kindness and in compassion, and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord" (Hosea 2:16, 19-20).