Isaiah 1:1, 10–20
The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation— I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Reflection
God is upset with his children. Upset enough to make the message loud and clear. God is letting his children know just how he feels about how they are acting. In no uncertain terms, God is upset with his children. God is sick of our sinful actions and hates our sin. God hates the evil that we do and can't stand it when we try to cover it up with sweet lies and actions to please him or to try to tell God what we think God wants to hear or see us do.
But when we argue it out with God, we will be convinced of our need to repent, of our need to be reconciled to God. We will be convinced of our love for God and his love for us. When we argue it out with God we are the ones that will be changed by his gracious love and salvation. We will turn with our bloody sins and God will wash us clean. God will pick us up and clean us up just like new.
What a contrast the two halves of this passage have with one another. God hates our sin and takes care of it for us. No need to lie our way back into his presence. We can come to God with our sins and bring them to him for cleansing and a change in our lives. No lies... no stories... only tell God the truth... and receive the blessings of his love.
Prayer
Lord, when I fall down, I come to you. Help me with my sin. Help me change. Help me do your will... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment