Christian Devotional – April 9, 2026

Change of Plans, Day 11

Why do we desire to rebel? Read Hosea chapter 11.

I used to know an athlete who really liked people to tell her that she couldn’t do something. She would get upset and use that anger to push her to excel and exceed in that very thing. She wanted to prove the person wrong. I’ve also known plenty of teenagers who delighted in doing the exact opposite of what their parents asked them to do. It didn’t even matter if they had originally wanted to do something in the first place. The very fact that their parents wanted them to do it meant that they would be doing the opposite.

We are often a people who want to determine their own ideas and not be told what to do. And the people of Israel were no different. God was telling them what they needed to do and how they were to follow him, but the more God called, the more the people drifted away from Him. The more they sought after their own ideas and pursued their own desires.

How do we respond to God when he directs us? When God is calling us to himself, how do we respond to Him? If our plan is to glorify God, then we will respond to Him in obedience. However, if we’re not guarded, our urge to rebel will jump in and get us to disobey. We must ensure that our plans and our desires are completely in line with God’s calling for us. Are we being obedient to Him in every way, or are we rebelling from Him?