Saturday 12 October 2019

Separation

But your iniquities have separated you from 
your God, your sins have hidden his face 
from you, so that he will not hear. 
For your hands are stained with blood, 
your fingers with guilt. 
Your lips have spoken lies, 
and your tongue mutters wicked things.                      Isa 59. 2,3


Who is the prophet addressing with these words? Obviously, in the first instance the Israelites, the chosen people of God, who had gone astray and forsaken Him. They ignored Him, choosing instead to follow foreign ways, to worship pagan idols, and to inter-marry with the heathen.

The Israelites were the first to receive God’s rebuke. Yet I feel that this does not end with them. What God says here is of the people’s sin, actions that alienate them from Him, actions that greatly disappoint Him.

What applies to the Israelites, applies to ALL people. No one is exempt from sin. Believers and non-believers alike fall prey to the wiles of evil. This alienates them from God, irrespective of whether or not they believe.

I am challenged by these words, for I am a miserable sinner. I may not have committed all the offences that are referred to in the above verses, but my own sin is there, and it is clear to both myself and to God. Yet there is a solution, a way through the sordid disobedience, a way of reconciliation with the Father. Isaiah states the entry to this way in the first verse of this chapter: Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.

As I cry out to God, so He will hear me. He will rescue me from the grip and tentacles of sin and restore me into right relationship with Himself – the place where I truly belong.


Loving Father,
You are life to me, indeed the whole of life. I ask You to forgive me my sins, for I sin every day in my fallen nature. I am truly sorry. I seek that wonderful re-connection with You and the beautiful relationship it restores me to. Help me, please.                 Amen.

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