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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“See, it stands written before Me: I
will not keep silent but will pay back in full; I will pay it back into their
laps—both your sins and the sins of your ancestors,” says the Lord. “Because
they burned sacrifices on the mountains and defied Me on the hills, I will
measure into their laps the full payment for their former deeds.”
Isaiah 65:6-7
This ends today’s reading from God's holy
word. Thanks be to God.
How does
the Lord respond when we disrespect Him and willingly choose sin over
righteousness? Does He just stand by and allow things to naturally play out in
accordance with the world’s ways and outcomes?
The Lord
answers these questions with authoritative clarity as He speaks to us through
today’s scripture passage and this fifth devotion in a seventeen devotion
series, The Lord Speaks, drawn from the final two chapters of Isaiah.
Let’s
look again at today’s verses:
“See, it stands written before Me: I will not keep silent but will pay
back in full; I will pay it back into their laps—both your sins and the sins of
your ancestors,” says the Lord. “Because they burned sacrifices on the
mountains and defied Me on the hills, I will measure into their laps the full
payment for their former deeds.” Isaiah
65:6-7
Before we
dive into these words, we need to set the stage for what the Lord is saying. Go
back to the earlier verses in Chapter 65 and you will find the Lord drawing up
a list of indictments against His people which included:
-
Stubbornly disobeying His commands.
- Walking in their own ways and the ways of the
world.
- Chasing
after their own imaginations and desires.
-
Provoking the Lord to His face.
-
Participating in false worship practices.
- Acting
self righteous.
It was
quite a list of charges against the Israelites, a people who were supposed to
be faithful to the One who made them His own. But instead of being compliant,
submissive, and respectful, the people of Israel chose to be non-conformists
who wanted to do their own thing and follow their will.
That
obviously wasn’t going to sit well with their Lord, their Maker and Master. For
as we see in our verses for today, the Lord was not going to stand by silent
and idly watch mere human beings disregard Him. Rather, He would pay them back
in full for not just their sins but the sins of their ancestors as well. The
Lord said He was a jealous God and would not stand for His people putting any
other gods before Him (Exodus 20) and He meant it as His people were soon to
find out.
Think
about that for a moment. Would you want to put yourself in a position where the
Lord was fed up and ready to punish you, not only for all the sins you have
committed but for the sins of all your relatives, past and present? The
consequences would add up quick, right?
Only a
fool today, knowing the way the Lord reacted to the Israelites and their
sinfulness, would opt to repeat the same behavior detailed in Isaiah 65.
And yet,
look at our world today. There are a lot of fools out there. A lot of them.
Sadly, if
they don’t repent and turn from their wickedness, their fate will be the same
as God’s people in the Old Testament, suffering the consequences of His
judgment as He pays them back in full.
Friends,
are we listening today?
For the
Lord is speaking out loud and clear with the following message:
“I will
not keep silent. I will pay back in full. Any of My people who willingly choose
sin will suffer My consequences.”
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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