Tuesday 28 May 2013

Tuesday Reading: Isaiah 1:16-20

Key Verse: Isaiah 1:19
19  If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

Devotion:
We need to know that the sin that we commit is wrong. That is why God has given us His law, so that we can identify just how much we do get it wrong and then to admit that we have got it wrong. But it must not end there because admitting the sin is one thing, but changing your life so that you exclude that sin from then on is an entirely different matter. God wants us to turn our backs on that sin. He knows that we are weak and that we need help to be able to do that; that is why He stands by us and with us, giving us direction, strength and encouragement to turn away from the sin.

Saying one thing and doing another seems to be the normal practice – but it is not what God has ever done and certainly not what He wants of us. Our Lord requires that we turn our back on sin, turning toward the good as He has directed us to do. It is not that hard a directive that He has given us. God has explained it clearly to us throughout the Old Testament and those Words have not changed from the beginning of time. God has not changed the rules or the goalposts; instead He has remained the same from the beginning.

Even though we have sins that should stain us red throughout, God’s mercy and forgiveness is beyond our ability to sin. This does not mean that we have freedom to sin as we please; just that God has a love for us that does not have any bounds. God set in motion the events that would lead to us having our sins blotted out, wiped away, removed as far as the East is from the West. Only Christ is able to forgive us to that extent. Only Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, can take away those sins to the uttermost!

The Lord knows that we are weak and that we will give in and break down. He knows that we cannot stand by ourselves. He knows that we do not have the strength to stand alone. That is why He allowed Jesus Christ to come to us and to lay down His own life as a perfect sacrifice for our wilful sins. The Lord leaves us the choice before us, to follow the old sinful ways or to choose to turn our backs on them and follow the righteous ways He lays down before us. They are there for us to choose from because He has made it possible for our past sins to be forgiven as we bring them to Him. Let us therefore turn to Him, admitting our sins, turning away from them and taking on a new life with Him.

Points to Ponder:
Do you seek forgiveness?

Do you leave your sins at Christ’s feet?