I remember reading this quote from Tim Keller about sin.

Sin is not just doing bad things. It is taking good things and making them ultimate in your life. Prayer and preaching regularly contain sin

It really challenged my understanding around sin. I’d be brought up to think sin was doing bad stuff but the realisation that even taking something good and making it ultimate, the main thing in our lives is ultimately sin because it takes the place of God. I was reminded of this quote when I read this in Hosea.

Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings, these have become altars for sinning. Hosea 8:11 (NIV)

The altars were a good thing for the Israelites. It was were they came to confess their sin that was keeping them from God. As they burned their ‘sin offering’ on the altar God forgave them of their sin and their relationship with Him was restored.

However what we can see from this verse is that something hasn’t gone well at the altars. What we know is that many of these altars became places were the people engaged in despicable acts with one another and God points out the irony – the place that was meant to where sin was forgiven has become the place where sin occurs.

I’ve written other posts about this before but I feel like this verse is a warning to us even when we are engaging in practises that are good and healthy. We must become careful that what is good in our life, never leads us somewhere bad.