Sunday Reading: Isaiah 44:21-23
Key Verse: Isaiah 44:22
22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins; return to Me; for I have redeemed you.
Devotion:
Even before Christ had come and died on the cross the Jews were reminded about how they needed to return to God when they start wandering off by themselves. These verses in Isaiah were also pointing toward the future when Christ would die on the cross, but as you can see from the tense, it was as if it had already happened; because Christ died for all sins, for all people... we just have to come back to God.
God had already set everything in motion to ensure that He would cover all of our sins as a thick cloud covers the landscape. He puts our transgressions away, not just hiding around the corner so that they can be found another day, but rather He takes them away forever. When we leave His side and wander off, it is like we are trying to leave the confines of the cloud that He has set up around us to cover our sins. Why would we want to have our sins on full display for everyone?
We need to remember exactly what Christ has done for us and to put away our ways and work towards His ways. He has given us our bibles to make sure that we can know what He wants in our lives and to know that He has forgiven our sins and that we can put them behind us. We don’t have to carry around the shame but rather leave it with Him and move forward in His loving arms. He does not want us to walk away but to stay with Him where we can be of best use. As we revel in His love, why not let the world know about it so they can look forward to something too!
Being in church allows us to lift up our voices and prayers and songs so that we can proudly tell the world about what Christ has done for us!
Points to Ponder:
How do you look at going to church?
Are you going to church to praise Him for what He has done?
