Our Stubbornness

Our Stubbornness

"The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. How then can the Lord pasture them like lambs in a meadow?"
Hosea 4:16

I have a little dog named Teddy, that likes to go with me everywhere I go in the car. He can see me starting for the door and is jumping as high as he can, as he thinks we are going for a ride, and usually will not stop until we get out the door. He is stubborn and doesn't like to take no for an answer. In the scripture above God is comparing Israel to a stubborn calf, as they would not listen to God's commands and obey them. Regardless of all the things God had done for them through the years, and had blessed them, they kept going back to their wicked ways of worshiping idols, and pursuing their evil desires. God even called them stiff-necked as well as stubborn in other scriptures, because of their stubbornness and their rebellious ways. I wonder if God looks at us the same way, as we are often stubborn. The Bible tells us what we are to do, we know God's commands, we know right from wrong, as His commands are clear, but we are too stubborn or stiff-necked to follow and obey them. We know the rewards of following God's commands, which is a home in heaven, and also the penalty of disobeying them, which is to spend our eternity in hell. However, we often don't take seriously His teachings and continue our sinful paths. Our stubbornness and the temptation of temporal pleasures of this earth get in the way of doing what is right. Unless we get past our stubborn nature, it is going to prevent us from experiencing the rich blessings that God wants to bestow on us.