Isaiah prophesied before the people of Judah. They had become self-focused and self-righteous, having replaced the God of glory with their own thinking. Having declared evil as good, and good as evil, they forsook the Lord who loved them. The Law became nothing, being replaced by their own ideals; sacrifices had become mere rituals rather than meaningful worship. Isaiah called them to repentance. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good! Seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause (Isaiah 1.16-17). Simply stated: Stop sinning!
May this be our resolve. Through the Word of God we learn righteousness and sin. May we not so disregard the holiness of the eternal God to cling to “pet sins,” to hold emphatically to those things which Christ freed us from when He died on the cross. By the grace of God and through the power of God by the Spirit of God, change can happen. We can learn to live differently; we can seek righteousness and choose to do what is in harmony with the Word of God. This learning takes work, but it is labor with great reward. Regardless of how we have lived, we can choose to change, to honestly consider ourselves before the God of Glory and His righteousness Regardless of current sin, we can choose to flee sin and repent before Christ our Savior. Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool (1.18). We are called to come, to humbly bow before the Lord as we are seeking His favor; we are called to reason, to honestly see ourselves as we are, guilty before the Lord because of sin. Our Lord desires and delights in forgiving us, in renewing us, and in using us. May it be our firm desire and eager delight in repentance, to be forgiven, changed, and used by the Lord.
Knowing God is ready to forgive – we have much to be thankful for –
Terry
