The news media has been salivating to get the latest scoop on Tiger Woods. Of course they are no longer interested in his golfing skills, but in his infidelity to his wife. I have a hard time understanding why Tiger would seek satisfaction outside of this marital ties, but he is not alone in his efforts. Tiger's infidelity has cost him in many different ways. His wife has left him and I do not know if she will return. He has lost millions of dollars in endorsements as well as his potential earnings on the golf circuit. His credibility is gone and public support is not in his corner.
The golfing industry will take a big hit as well. I read somewhere that golfing will lose anywhere from 200 - 250 million dollars in revenue since the number one player in the world will not be playing anytime soon. It is a sad situation and my heart goes out to his wife, children and Tiger himself. I do not know him and probably never will, but I pray that he can find the help he needs and restoration is still possible.
Tiger's life is not much different from the life of Gomer in the Old Testament. You might remember that Gomer was the wife of Hosea the prophet. He was new in the ministry and his wife was a prostitute. Imagine the scandal that erupted on the 10:00 news when word got out that the local preacher and prophet was married to an adulterer. Probably did not lose too many endorsements. He also did not have to worry about losing any future revenue since everyone knows that prophets did not work for money anyway. But would his message be received? Now that is a different story. Nevertheless as we read the story, we know that Hosea married Gomer even though he knew the type of woman she was. He went into his relationship with a woman that had a roving eye and looked for satisfaction in other relationships than the one she had with Hosea.
The Bible is clear that Hosea's relationship with Gomer was to be a living example of God's relationship to Israel. God loved Israel and was faithful in His love for her. He provided her with everything she needed to be successful and to be a blessing to others. She was given a wonderful place to live. In fact everyone else wanted the land of Israel as well. God provided her with a land flowing with milk and honey. It was abundant and it was beautiful. God met Israel's daily needs and lavished His goodness upon her. Whatever she needed God was able to supply. Yet Israel, much like Gomer and Tiger, was not satisfied. Instead Israel went looking for love, happiness and satisfaction elsewhere. Yet even as they went looking for love in all the wrong places, God still loved Israel. His love is amazing and we really cannot understand it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK: NEWS FLASH: PASTOR BRUCE PREACHES AMAZING SERIES OF SERMONS ON GOD'S AMAZING LOVE FROM THE BOOK OF HOSEA EVERY SUNDAY EVENING AT 6:00 PM. LOOKING FOR LOVE? COME HEAR ABOUT GOD'S AMAZING LOVE!)
However the parallels are not finished. God loves us as well. He has given us the most wonderful gift that anyone could ever give to another person and that is His precious son Jesus Christ to give us salvation. He loves us with a love that we cannot begin to understand. What do we do in return? We look for love, happiness, and satisfaction in other things. Perhaps we look for it in a relationship or in an object. Maybe we think in the back of our mind that if we could just have a different spouse, or a different car, or a different job, then we would really be happy and content in life. But the answer is to look to God and he will meet all our needs.
Perhaps the Bible has more to say about life than many care to admit. Some have said that life imitates art. I do not know if that is true, but I can definitely see where life imitates the stories in the Bible. If life imitates the Bible then maybe the answers to all of our problems might be located in the Bible. I pray that Tiger Woods will look to the Bible to find the satisfaction he seeks, but more importantly I pray that you will look to the Bible as well. Once you discover the truth, the Bible states that the truth will set you free. You will be free to live life as God intended you to live with Him having priority in your life. Instead of looking for love in all the wrong places, why not look for love in Christ and find true love. He will never leave you or disappoint you and the benefits are out of this world.
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