Seek the Lord
Originally scheduled for January 11
"Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I
will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the
faithful mercies shown to David. "Behold, I have made him a witness
to the peoples, A leader and commander for the peoples. "Behold, you
will call a nation you do not know, And a nation which knows you not
will run to you, Because of the LORD your God, even the Holy One of
Israel; For He has glorified you." 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; And let him return to the
LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He
will abundantly pardon. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor
are your ways My ways," declares 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.
(Isaiah 55:3-9 NASB)
There is a common misapprehension about
Christianity, namely that those who would become Christians was
somehow or other “clean up their act” before becoming a Christian.
It carries over to the question as well; often enough, we assume we
are not righteous enough to be effective in our prayers or in our
work. This passage is an interesting counter to that thought.
First, God puts out his track record in dealing
with the repentant sinner. He cites as his example his treatment of
King David. Now, other than adultery, abuse of power and murder
David would’ve looked just about like one of us. He points out that
he forgave; that his mercies are “faithful.” Not only is faithful in
granting mercy, but he restores David to a position where he is a
witness to others. Isaiah the prophet gives us the secret of being
treated this way: seek the Lord while he may be found. This implies
that he is available; it also implies there is a time when it is too
late to do this.
So then, how does one seek the Lord? Well,
first things first: seek him immediately. Don’t wait until you
become more righteous; do it now. There are two primary fields of
human endeavor that God focuses on:
·
He tells the wicked to forsake what
they are doing. In short stop doing what is wrong.
·
The unrighteous man is commanded to
forsake his thinking. Just
because your sins are hidden in your brain doesn’t make them any
less sinful.
One of the reasons we think this so incredible,
so hard to get, is that we put God in the same position we are. With
what we would do in his place — and the answer is, “not much.” But
God is compassionate. This seems strange – and the answer is, it is
strange. At least it’s strange to us; his ways are much higher than
ours. It is perfectly normal that you do not understand why God
forgive; it’s just required that you understand that he will.
The ultimate proof of his compassion is found
at the Cross. In communion, we remember that sacrifice. The bread
represents his body; the cup represents his blood. It is his way of
proving that he means it — he is compassionate. Therefore, as you
partake remember that you are commanded to examine your self. If
that examination produces repentance, do not put off. Seek him while
he may be found.
