Hosea 6:6

Hosea 6:6 says, For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.  God was not looking for empty acts of worship, but for the hearts of His people to be changed.  They were to show mercy and be in a real relationship with God.  Wearing a cross, or even carrying a Bible everywhere, means very little if we don't have mercy for all those around us.  If we want to keep God for a particular group of people or limit Him to a particular place or particular area of our lives, then we are never going to please God.  God calls us to be changed people.  We are to show God to the world, not by symbols and occasional practices, but by the way we live our lives every day.  If we have no mercy for those around us, or even for those anywhere in the world, we cannot witness for God as we should.  Verse seven adds, But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacrously against me.  God's people had transgressed the covenant they had with God.  Covenants, or contracts seem to mean very little anymore.  An example would be people who had a contract with a company for retirement benefits, but suddenly the company declares the pension fund bankrupt.  There are many more we could cite, but usually when a contract, or covenant is broken, the one with the most power breaks it.  This is never true with God.  He has all the power, but it is people who break the covenant and never God.  Verse eight continues, Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood.  This tells us the result of God's people acting with treachery toward God.  What should have been a city of refuge was a city polluted with blood.  As followers of Christ, when people come to us seeking help, we should offer them a place of refuge, not a place of condemnation.  We can look at the news about the world today and see that there are many more places filled with blood than there are places of refuge.  This still falls under the showing of mercy and not just empty worship.  There was indeed no balm in Gilead at this time.  Verse nine states, And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.  God said the priests in that day were no better than the other people.  They murdered by consent and acted with lewdness toward others.  We today as followers of Christ are a priesthood of believers, and we need to make sure that we do not endorse sinful acts or commit lewd acts toward God. When we offer empty sacrifices and worship to God, this is exactly what we are doing.  Verse ten adds, I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled. This is a sad commentary on God's people.  Since they chased after false gods, they were defiled before God.  Verse eleven continues, Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people.  God had rescued Judah from captivity, but they were also turning to false Gods and would soon fall also without God's power keeping them safe.  We today as followers of Christ have been delivered from the power of sin, and we need to make sure that we do not begin to chase after false gods.