Homilist Hosea 5:4 They will not frame their doings to turn to their God: for the spirit of prostitutions is in the middle of them… Few have any notion that there is a certain way to repent and believe, and fewer still indicate the nature of that way. How are men so to frame their doings as to turn unto their God? I. BY THINKING ON CERTAIN SUBJECTS. We act from motives when we act as men. But what are the motives? The creation of our own thoughts. The man who centres his thoughts on the advantages of fame, or wealth, or knowledge, turns to their pursuit. His thoughts excite his feelings, and his feelings urge him to a resolution. If I am to repent I must think of my sins in relation to the character of the Holy God, and the self-sacrificing Christ. It is only as I muse that the fires of penitence will burn. If a man is to turn to any new course of conduct, he must have new motives, and if he is to have new motives, he must have new thoughts. II. BY THINKING ON CERTAIN SUBJECTS IN A CERTAIN WAY. 1. With concentration. 2. With persistency. 3. With devotion. III. BY THINKING ON CERTAIN SUBJECTS WITH A PRACTICAL INTENT. Merely to increase our theological knowledge, or make our feelings glow with religious sentiment would be of little service, but to think in order to translate the thought into action, to embody the idea in the life — this is the way. Thoughtlessness is the curse of humanity. Think on right subjects; think in a right way; think with a practical intent. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the LORD. |
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