"sin is defiling to the soul. Our business is to wash from it and turn to God." -Henry

 

It's amazing, really. The living power of God's holy Word. I was convicted to get out my Bible this morning after reading someone else's thoughts after her own reading of the Word. I've been meaning to tackle Isaiah for far too long. So, here I am…. Reading chapter one.

Oh the rebelliousness of a nation that God so clearly loves and devotes Himself to! But, then, don't we all rebel at times? I'm convicted In my own soul as I know I have rebelled. Maybe not in a huge, public way. But, in the "privateness" of my own walk with Jesus, I have forsaken time with Him. Conveniently "forgetting" to read His Word. The lame excuses I have are nothing. Let's just be real. I have failed.

 

So, Isaiah chapter one! It is filled with the anger of a righteous God who, in all of His holiness, has a right to that anger!  In verse 5, Isaiah writes "your whole head in injured, your whole afflicted." at first glance I took this to the spirit-part of life, but in looking up the Hebrew words, it is completely physical. Physically, the nation was wasted. No one could function properly. They were so consumed with the blood on their hands and the sin of their hearts, that even their bodies were overcome. "From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there is no soundness-" Simply put, they weren't wholesome! Nothing was good…

 

I want to be wholesome. I don't want to be like the harlot Israel had become. In reading further, I found the hope (there is always hope in these sweet pages).

 

Verses 16-17 start the talk of hope:

 

   "Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!"

 

Oh the simplicity of those words! Oh the complexity of them too!

The beauty of it all is that God gives us the answers. He shows us how to stop and what to learn! If we are to seek righteousness, we must not just turn from our sin and repent. We must learn to do right! In doing right, we become more like Jesus, more righteous!

He washes us white as snow. He forgives us. He has mercy upon us.

Then, we have a job to do. No more just sitting around, pretending that righteousness is accomplished in it's fullest. NO! We aren't fully righteous until heaven… that means we have plenty of time to work on it daily!

After Isaiah writes "learn to do right," he instructs us (through God) how! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Vindicate the fatherless. Defend the widow.

Then, just like so many times before, God says, "Come."

He wants us to commune with Him. He wants us to learn how to do good. He points, even in the old testament, to James when he speaks about true religion. He doesn't want us to just participate in this glorious inheritance. He  wants us to be so much in communion with Him that we seek to be poured out. We seek to do good. We seek to defend and care for and love those who aren't receiving much of anything. He wants us to be like Him.

Henry says: "Avenge those that suffer wrong, in a special manner concerning yourselves for the fatherless and the widow, whom, because they are weak and helpless, proud men trample upon and abuse. do you appear for them at the bar, on the bench, as there is occasion? Speak for those that know not how to speak for themselves and that have not wherewithal to gratify you for your kindness.”

Jesus sat with weak, helpless sinners. He sat with the poor in spirit. He spoke for those who couldn't speak for themselves, and, just as He has done for us, He healed. Not just physically, but spiritually. What a wonderful gift! We experience wholeness in our relationship with Jesus. But, if we are neglecting Him, rebelling in our walk with Him, we fail to experience the fullness of His plan.

I love the hope that Israel had in God. They just had to choose to turn from sin, repent, and learn to do good. Interesting, that thousands of years later, here I am. Learning to do good. Just like the Israelites. I'm glad there isn't a point of  "arrival" for any person on this earth. I'm glad that in my sinfulness, I can experience wholeness in Jesus, that He is still working on me. He is still molding me. He is still showing me the depths of what it means to do good.

It's Christmastime. Go find a way to do some of Jesus' good in honor of His precious life, sent here in the form of an innocent (truly innocent) babe. And, repent… turn from evil. Cling to what is good.

 

That good is Jesus.