TWO IMPORTANT THINGS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

This is what the Lord says:

“Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. Blessed is the one who does this—the person who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without  desecrating it, and keeps their hands from doing any evil.”

Isaiah 56:1-2

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

If you were asked to name two important things that the Lord desires for any person to do, how would you respond?

The task wouldn’t be hard because of a lack of things to draw from. The Lord certainly has given us a number of things we are to focus on while living life day by day. The challenge would be in selecting the most important things from everything He has directed us to do.

So how can we know which two things matter most, the two things that God would want us to say and favor?

As always, we can go to the word of God to find the answer and it just so happens that it’s within our passage for today from the opening two verses of Isaiah 56:

This is what the Lord says:

“Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. Blessed is the one who does this—the person who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without  desecrating it, and keeps their hands from doing any evil.”  Isaiah 56:1-2

The first words are of the utmost importance to us because we are given the assurance that the Lord is the messenger, the One speaking the words we are studying. He and He alone is giving us the guidance and in this instance, that guidance is to carry out two very important tasks.

First, we are to maintain justice and, by definition, this means we are to act justly, carrying for other without partiality and with the utmost sense of fairness. We are to conform our hearts, minds, and souls to the truth and that truth is only found in Jesus who told us in the word of God that He is the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).

So how do we meet this important requirement the Lord has given us?

We do so by allowing Him to instruct us in matters of justice. It’s as simple as that.

You see, we get into trouble the most when we try to lean on our own understanding and judgment which we all know is imperfect. We double down on the mistake when we turn to someone else who is in the world for advice when they are just as flawed as we are. Is it any wonder why we live in a world where injustice seems to be rampant? What’s sad about this is that it doesn’t need to be this way.

For if we would only seek the Lord and His wisdom in all matters of life, then we know we would always do the proper thing because He will always lead us there. He never leads us anywhere else then to the place where perfect righteousness abides.

That leads us to the second important thing the Lord wants us to accomplish which is simply to do right.

The Lord expects us to live in a way that He will always see as good and upright, a way that is free from sin, a way that shows others that we have opted for a way of life separate from the world’s trappings, a way that reflects the very life of Jesus Himself. For isn’t that what we are to be doing as Christians, living as Christ lived?

Friends, when we truly commit ourselves to live like Jesus, we will easily meet the demands of the Lord in our passage today. For Jesus was perfectly just and He lived perfectly right. No one else has ever lived that flawless but we can draw ever nearer to that way of life if we devote ourselves to our Savior as much as He has devoted and continues to devote Himself to us. He and He alone will keep our hands from doing evil. He and He alone will lead us to the place where we worship and love Him with all our heart and mind and soul and strength.

Go back to our scriptures for the wonderful reward we will experience from living like Jesus. For the Lord Himself tells us that when we carry out the two important things He gives us, then we will find ourselves blessed.

In other words, not only do we satisfy the Lord when we obediently follow His word and will, we satisfy ourselves and enter into a life marked by joy and happiness in knowing we are making a difference in God’s kingdom here on earth and doing so in a way that is pleasing in His sight.

Is there any better place to be in life?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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