"Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
Isaiah 1:16-18
I like this because it seems like the Lord is sitting in front of us, saying this to us in person: ... I know that your life is sort of messed up. Let me help you get back on track. We can get you back to feeling clean and good and confident. Here's how. :) And then he gives us some awesome fatherly advice about how he will help us do all of that. First, we need to clean up our acts. We need to be clean inside and out and stop doing things that make us feel filthy. ... After we stop doing the bad stuff, we need to start learning to do the good stuff. Replace our bad actions with some good ones. :) And some advice on good things to do. :) And the final verse... no matter how bad you feel or what you've done, let's work on it. Though it seems impossible to change, if we work on it together, we can make it happen.
Today, let's sit down with God and work on our lives. No matter where we are, we can improve our happiness and satisfaction with life as we work with him on improving ourselves.
Thanks for posting this passage -- I love the beauty of Isaiah's words. The best part of this passage is that the end points to Christ: He is the Lamb whose sacrifice covers our sins and makes us white as wool. "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8) ... it's amazing that we can go to God BEFORE we get cleaned up. I am so grateful that it is HIS Spirit at work within us that empowers us to carry out the first part of the verses you posted. I love that all of the Old Testament points to Jesus, the Messiah and the King of Kings. And when we focus on Him and on abiding in HIm, we will naturally produce fruit (John 15). Thanks again for posting!
ReplyDeleteIsaiah's words are indeed beautiful. Glad you liked the post. :)
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