This has been my Friday Fav since last week. I never got it posted last Friday, and it seems I missed this Friday, too. I’m just posting it on Saturday night, but I’m still calling it a Friday Fav. :)
.
This year in BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) we’re studying Isaiah. My most favorite passage has been Isaiah 1:16-20. This passage of scripture is so rich and full of life lessons! I have loved thinking about it, memorizing it, and trying to teach it to my kids.
16 Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
17 Learn to do right; seek justice.
encourage the oppressed.[a]
Defend the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.
18 “Come now, let us reason together,”
says the LORD.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the best from the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
“STOP doing wrong.”
Such an elementary thought, yet such a wake-up call. We need to take notice of the yucky, nasty, ugly things that are awful habits in our lives…the little things that are wrong, sinful…and STOP! We can’t be the person God wants us to be if we continue to (willingly, blatantly) live in sin. Because we are imperfect humans, we will always be sinful, but we should make every attempt to live like Christ.
.
LEARN to do right.
This verse is key! Correcting our sinful habits doesn’t typically change overnight. It can happen with the help of the Lord, but in most cases correcting our sin takes time. LEARN to do right. It’s so special to me that the Lord knows this is a process. Take the time to figure out how to do right. Take the time to study the WORD. Spend time with others that are encouraging and wise and knowledgeable. Be teachable.
.
Personal examples:
It’s easy to think this verse doesn’t really apply to us if we’re not committing “big” sins…but large or small, a sin is separation from our HOLY GOD.
I need to STOP yelling at my children when I am frustrated with their deliberate disobedience. I need to LEARN to calmly speak words of truth to them. Correct them, YES, but not exasperate them. This is SO HARD for me!
I need to STOP being lazy, messy, unorganized. I need to LEARN to be productive, organized, and take care of the gifts to which I’ve been blessed. I know God is a God of order, I am a woman of CHAOS, and something needs to change.
.
(vs. 17) Seek Justice. Encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless. Plead the case of the widow. Be the arms and hands and feet and mouth of the Lord for people who are broken, discouraged, down, frustrated, weary. There are so many people hurting, so many people who feel they have no voice, and they need YOU and ME!
.
Come now let us reason.
Be reasonable! Sit down, think about your life. Think about this verse and BE REASONABLE. Don’t make excuses (which I’m an EXPERT at doing), but instead try to see your life as GOD sees it.
.
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they are as red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
(This always reminds me of an old Sons and Daughters/Watermark song)
Our sins are sometimes so small that we don’t think about them much, but they build to something ugly. Sometimes they’re large and public. No matter what they are, no matter how public they are, we are all sinners, and we all need the saving grace of the LORD! Whether we feel the glare of peoples’ judgmental eyes due to a public sin, or we just know in our hearts that we are living in sin, THE LORD WILL…AND IS HAPPY TO…FORGIVE US! No sin ever has to be a permanent stain, because He wants to make us “as white as snow!” He wants to wipe our slate clean. LET HIM! Fall at his feet and ask for forgiveness. He will make us clean if we only confess our sins, ask for forgiveness, and get back on track with a personal relationship with the one who created every one of us!
.
If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.”
This verse DOES NOT implythat walking with the Lord will give you an easy life or that living in sin will cause death. To me, this verse sounds like good parenting/shepherding words of wisdom! If we willingly obey the few things He’s asked of us, we may not have an easy life, but we’ll have a full and joy filled life. If we resist and rebel (as we often see our children do), we will be met with consequences and a lack of peace. We will never be completely happy with that void in our life, and we will one day face judgment…from the only judge that matters. We can have eternal life with Him, or we can have eternal life without Him. I choose to be WITH Him! I choose joy, peace, hope!
.
These verses have made me think a lot about my actions. There are so many things I need to stop doing and so many things I need to learn. The one place I know I can find wisdom is The Bible. The Lord tells us clearly in Jeremiah 29:13,
“Call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” delcares the Lord.”
.
Thank you for your wisdom. I’m just glad to know someone else out there struggles with the same things (well glad is a stretch…I wish we didn’t struggle with it, but sometimes it’s easier to change when you know you aren’t the only one in the fight). This could have been from my very own lips: “I need to STOP being lazy, messy, unorganized. I need to LEARN to be productive, organized, and take care of the gifts to which I’ve been blessed. I know God is a God of order, I am a woman of CHAOS, and something needs to change.”
Thank you for sharing . It has been a blessing to spend time with you.