Hosea 12:1: “Ephraim feeds on the wind, / And pursues the east wind; / He daily increases lies and desolation. / Also they make a covenant with the Assyrians, / And oil is carried to Egypt.”

November 4th, 2021 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Wind is empty; it cannot satisfy hunger or nourish the body. The people of God were trying to feed their souls with the words of the false prophets and chasing after the passions of this world, which were as useless to their spirit as trying to eat air. In Hosea’s day, there was material prosperity on the outside, but the heart of the nation was morally and spiritually bankrupt. By trying to fill their spiritual emptiness with the all-too-appealing words of the false prophets, they ended up empty and starved.

Today we must guard against this same kind of faulty thinking since never before has there been such an attractive array of wind food around for the believer. Wind salesmen abound, trying to get us involved in some secular club, association, hobby, sport, or educational program, rather than serving God. These can consume enormous amounts of time and become like “hot air” or “feeding on wind,” if God is not at the center of the effort. Solomon wrote that apart from God “all is vanity and striving after wind” (Ecc. 1:14), but the nation of Israel was not following their wisest king’s advice.

Chasing the wind will not only fail to bring us peace and security, it will eventually lead us to emotional and spiritual emptiness. After the Dallas Cowboys won their 5th Super Bowl, Coach Tom Landry made this observation: “The overwhelming emotion—in a few days, among the players on the Dallas Cowboys football team—was how empty that goal was. There must be something more.” Emptiness of the soul is all that this world has to offer. Only a life lived in and for Christ has any meaning, as the old saying goes, “Only one life and it will soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.”

“Thank You, LORD, that You give meaning to any life that is surrendered to You. We surrender this day to You and ask that You would use us for Your Kingdom.”