LEARNING DAILY

 

Isaiah 1:13, 16-17, Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the cause of the widow.

 

I enjoy reading the books of the prophets. In the Chronological Bible I am reading for my devotions, this was written about Jeremiah by the author. “When he began his ministry, warning against impending national peril, Judah is resting complacently in an unusual period of peace and is soon to experience a brief period of spiritual revival. While Jeremiah is predicting the fall of Jerusalem, the popular message of the priests and false prophets is “peace, peace.” Naturally the people prefer to believe the more optimistic line, and so they turn against the prophet of doom. Little do they realize that the political scene is changing rapidly.”

 

In my mind, that could be written today. What I read and hear today is political change is near. Are we not hearing about changes in our monetary system, changes where the government controls our spending, controls every appliance and device we own? I have heard about changes coming that would be covid-like shutdown and controls over every aspect of our life. The type of vehicles we own and drive are being thrust upon us by mandates. It goes on and on! Are we on the verge of  “impending national peril” as spoken by not only Jeremiah, but by most of the prophets? I am not proclaiming myself as a prophet – just one observing the days we live in and passing on observations. What was Isaiah saying that we need to hear today?

 

Like in ancient Israel there is no lack of being religious in our nation today. Israel was making sacrifices, burning incense during religious ceremonies, and participated in the local and national gatherings of people. Today, people go through the motions of showing up at a church service, give money, and other sorts of religious stuff. But with Israel, people today are doing these things while continuing to live in sin. Go back and read what God had to say about this. Read the words “meaningless”, “detestable”, and “hate”. Without hearts that are right with God through salvation offered by Jesus Christ, our offerings, words, and religious conduct are nothing but vain offerings and God hates them. He cannot look upon these things while we continue to sin.

 

Isaiah turns from telling the people their sinful activities are meaningless to God to telling them how they can make their relationship with the Lord become meaningful again. They have to wash their hands and make themselves clean; this is no mere ceremonial washing – they must stop doing the evil they are doing. He sees what they are doing. The only way for Him to stop seeing their sinfulness is to stop sinning and learn to do good.

 

For people today, they must repent and turn their lives over to Jesus Christ and begin to live for themselves. Instead of being so concerned with their self-centered life, living to indulge themselves, living to be seen and praised by others, and doing what is right in their own eyes, they need to get on the narrow way and live their life in the way the Lord desires for them to live. The people of God who call themselves Christians need to stop doing wrong, repent, and begin doing good.