September 28
Isaiah 54:1-57:14 | PS 70:1-5 | Prov 24:8 | Eph 6:1-24
As we approach God, and God's Word, we must all ask ourselves what it is that we are seeking. Perhaps you feel that you are leading a fairly moral life: married, children, responsible job, and adding a little bit of God into your life will round you out a bit more. Perhaps things are not going well in your life and you are seeking resolution to your problem, relief from your addiction, answers to life's difficulties, sort of seeking God in a self-help sort of way. We need to understand that God does not desire religion, but relationship. He doesn't desire an add-on approach, but a revolution within us. We are either all-in, or not really in at all. We read in Isaiah 55:1-3, "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters;...Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me, Hear and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you...". Notice there is nothing haphazard or lackadaisical about these admonitions. Block out everything else. Stop daydreaming. Stop trying to fit God into your own personal agenda. Thirst for Him. Read intently, don't just breeze through. Focus on His Word, not what others say about His Word. God promises a New Covenant. In fact, when Isaiah wrote this around 700 BC, God had already made six covenants with the people. The only future covenant is the New Covenant, which was further elaborated on in Jeremiah 31:31-34, and fulfilled in Jesus at His first coming.
We next read in Isaiah 55:6-7, "Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon." Notice the call to not procrastinate. Everyone believes there is always tomorrow. Many continue in their way, not truly seeking the Lord, because one day their circumstances will ease, life will be easier, then they will turn to the Lord. Notice, in these verses there is an urgent call for repentance, now, today. There is the focus both on his way and his thoughts, which means the external, or that which others see, and the internal, which no one else sees. In fact, Jesus' message was all about His Kingdom, not on how to live like a "good Christian". You can't even embark, you can't even take the first step, you can't even incline your ear, unless you repent, or change your mind about those things, those sins, which cloud your senses.
We then read in Isaiah 55:8-9, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts." Arrogantly. most are afraid to humble themselves and submit because they are afraid that God will mess up their plans. How many arrogantly state, "If I were God, then I would do this or that". Such fools. God offers us eternity, and we prefer to play with mudpiles. God offers us mansions, and we prefer to play monopoly. God is not holding back, it is us, His creation who so often holds back. God is the potter, and we are the clay, yet foolishly the clay often thinks it knows better than the Potter how he or she should be formed. Don't you want the New Covenant? Don't you realize that you don't know what is best for your life? Our Creator formed us in the womb, and has the most beautiful trajectory in store for us if we would only get out of our own way, incline our ear, become students of His Word, and submit and trust He who formed us.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: