June 2025 Devotional: A Story of Forgiveness
By Major Tammy Ray, Sara Ray & Carol World
Redding, CA Corps – Del Oro Division
Imagine with me, if you will, a day at the market square in Biblical times… The square was crowded with people, haggling for the best prices on goods and animals. I imagine that the noise and smells were overwhelming. In the middle of town, there was an auction block. It was obvious that an auction was taking place and as we got closer, we saw that the auctioneer was selling a slave girl.
We moved closer to get a better view. Who was this object of such shame and disgrace? Why was she tied to the auction block without a stitch of clothing to cover her body? We asked these questions to no one in particular, but the villagers were quick with their responses.
One man shouts out, “she’s the town prostitute!” “She used to be married,” says another bystander. And another said, “Yeah, she was married to the preacher that once lived around here, and they had three kids.” The stories just kept getting more and more unbelievable. Looking at this broken woman being auctioned off to the highest bidder, one would have a hard time believing that she was once a young wife and mother.
No one could tell us what made her choose to leave her husband and children to be a prostitute, and now she was past her prime being sold like an animal.
As the auction continued, the woman stood there with her head downcast, feeling worthless and shameful. No one had the curtesy to even throw a blanket over her shoulders.
“Gentlemen, gentlemen,” the auctioneer hollered. “I have a ten-shekel bid, isn’t there any one of you who is willing to give me 11 shekels for . . . for . . . this former beauty!” He waited a moment and then called out, “all right, I have a bid for 10 shekels. Going once…going twice…
Suddenly a voice calls out over the noise, “I’ll give you 15 shekels and 10 bushels of barley.” The auctioneer’s jaw dropped. He couldn’t believe what he just heard. Every head in the crowd turned to see who made this unbelievable bid. The woman on the podium didn’t even lift her head. As far as she was concerned this was just another stranger who would take her, use her, maybe even abuse her and ultimately cast her away. The stranger made his way to the front and counted out the 15 shekels into the hands of the seller promising to deliver the grain the next day.
The slave woman expected the buyer to drag her off the podium and parade her through the crowd, but instead, she felt the smooth touch of a cloth being thrown around her shoulders, falling down to below her knees covering her nakedness. Strong hands tenderly touch her shoulders. “Gomer,” a voice said. “Gomer.” It took her a moment to comprehend what she was hearing. When she looked up, her eyes grew wide in astonishment. Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “Hosea! Hosea! Is it really you?” “Yes,” said Hosea, embracing her. “I have come to take you back home. You’re going home, Gomer. I love you. You are my wife, Gomer. You are going home.” The stunned crowd listened and watched in silence as Hosea gently helped her down from the podium. He was heard saying, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.” (Hosea 3:3 NIV).
Forgiveness is a tricky and difficult thing. Sometimes it is easier to forgive others than it is to forgive ourselves for all that we have done wrong. However, if you were to change Gomer’s name to yours and Hosea’s name to God…That is how God sees us. He knows what we have done right, and what we have terribly messed up in our lives. Yet, He still loves us so much that He will take our brokenness and use it to His glory.
In Colossians 1:13-14 (The Message) it says, “God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the Kingdom of the Son He loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating.” When we ask God to forgive us, we are redeemed!
There is a Japanese legend that dates back to the 15th century. A Japanese shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, broke his favorite tea bowl. He sent it to be repaired, but the repairs were ugly. The craftsman understood the disappointing repair and was motivated to find a way to repair the tea bowl in a beautiful way. He took resin and mixed it with gold and put the pottery back together. The gold transformed what was broken and useless into a beautiful and useful piece of art.
When we surrender our lives to the Master Craftsman, our Heavenly Father, He takes our broken, sometimes shattered lives and puts us back together better than ever before. We become forgiven, redeemed, beautiful, new, and reconciled. We are the same person, but better and stronger and useful to the Kingdom of God.
