A couple of weeks ago at church, one surprised soul discovered a bat in the toilet in the bathroom by the chapel. It was the good timing of our custodian that she was out for lunch when this discovery was made. I was able to successfully fish the bat out of the toilet into a cooler and deliver it outside. I suppose this is the part of my job description that reads “other duties as assigned.” Yet our toilet bat made me think of Hosea 6, with the imperative command to “acknowledge the Lord, let us press on to acknowledge him.” You don’t have to work hard to acknowledge a bat in the toilet; in fact it would be rather hard to ignore. Some things in life are like that. Yet the phrase “press on to acknowledge” is what comes next. It is the call to go deeper, to think further, and to observe beyond what’s on the surface. We acknowledge the toilet bat, but then press on to acknowledge that it got in somehow. At that point, one must search thoroughly for entry points. One or two bats isn’t a big deal, but if they have a way in soon you’ll have a colony: a big problem! Sin is the same way. You have to acknowledge it, or work hard to ignore it. But to press on to acknowledge, that means getting into the hard work of the heart work. What habits, patterns, dispositions make this a bigger problem, or a looming one? Hosea and other prophets are laying the groundwork of critique of Israel’s sacrificial system, painting a picture of the Savior we need. Though given by God, the people’s side of keeping the covenant wasn’t working out or bearing the fruit God intended. Sacrificing for a sin of error, a weak moment, a one-time “oops” works just fine: sacrifice a bull, lamb, dove, pigeon, or ephah of flour. But it seems as if Israel, like a colony of bats in the attic, is overtaken by sin. The sacrifices are barely the acknowledgement that is needed, they don't “press on” or lean into the heart’s waywardness towards idolatry and adultery. Taking out one bat doesn’t help if the colony is roosting above the ceiling. Acknowledging means catching the toilet bat and looking to make sure there’s not more coming. Yet if we were only to focus on acknowledging our sin, we would quickly become spiritually depressed and demoralized. Hosea takes sin very seriously, but the call is to acknowledge the Lord, his name is Jesus! If you’re going to face sin and stare it down, you won’t get very far on your own. A greater sacrifice was needed than the offerings dictated by the law. So press on to acknowledge the Lord, both in the sense of going deeper with Jesus and pressing on with perseverance and endurance. “As surely as the sun rises, he will appear.” Some days are cloudier than others, sometimes we find more toilet bats than we wanted to find, but we press on to acknowledge Jesus and have him help us with our bats, and in his strength keep them from building a colony in our hearts. - Pastor Steven