Isaiah - chapter 1

Two points distilled in my mind as I studied my BSF lesson this week (on the first chapter of Isaiah).

1.     1. Our lives become messy mostly because of self-reliance borne of self-absorption.  We are a guarded, self-directed people who rely on ourselves  (and our micro-managed committees and programs) rather than submitting to God and His plan for our lives.

2.     2. Isaiah was called by God to deliver a message of warning, comfort and deliverance: God offers HOPE and REDEMPTION. We accept or reject His work in our hearts to that end: repentance, cleansing, and restoration.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but as I grow older (and hopefully a little wiser) I realize I grew up thinking I had to protect and guard myself (survival), and please everyone else by being the Ultimate Good Girl (survival again).  It never crossed my mind for years that there was another more critical survival: spiritual.  I didn’t realize the goal of life was not only to survive, but to THRIVE spiritually, and thus also physically and emotionally.  What a life-altering concept.

Self-absorption is automatic and yet counter-productive – a result, at least in part, of unguarded prosperity.  It binds the spirit.  Isaiah speaks with integrity and compassion to lift our minds and hearts so we recognize and embrace the ways of our sovereign, holy God.