Isaiah 59

One of the crucial aspects of the book of Isaiah is Israel's sin, idolatry and their complete disregard for who God is. They ran from God to other things that seemed to be of redeeming value. Yet, after a time Israel began to realize that their choices had put God at arm's length. They did not explicitly renounce who God was, they just valued everything else above Him. The sad reality is that the U.S. has adopted this same mindset. Where we were once a nation that sought to glorify God above all else, we have become a nation that seeks to glorify self above all else. We have belittled God and His Power in our own mind and we have an over-exaggerated view of ourselves. Our endeavors center around MY stuff, MY bank account, MY image, MY happiness, and MY job. We our so centered on MY needs and wants and look past HIS commandments and calling. I have separated myself from God by my own choice. God has not abandoned this nation...we have abandoned Him. Look in Isaiah's day and God's response to their behavior:

Behold, the LORD'S hand is not so short
That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
Isaiah 59:1-2 (NASB)

God is the perfect display of righteousness and justice and because of that He can have no place with sin. God's Word attest to this in 1 John 1:5-10:

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
1 John 1:5-6 (NASB)

To live my life in pursuit of all things but God is to literally exist without truly living. I was made in His image...in order to glorify Him. I am living a lie to say I do not need God as a part of my life. I exist because of Him! Yet, that disregard for God comes so natural to me. I savor God's grace when I am in the midst of my deepest need and as the status of my life improves, my recognition of God's grace fades. I push Him to the side and let my relationship with God gather dust as I invest my time and interest in other things. For their sin, God allowed Israel to be taken into captivity and it was then, when God's grace was needed, they realized how far they had strayed from their Father:

Therefore justice is far from us,
And righteousness does not overtake us;
We hope for light, but behold, darkness,
For brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope along the wall like blind men,
We grope like those who have no eyes;
We stumble at midday as in the twilight,
Among those who are vigorous we are like dead men. All of us growl like bears,
And moan sadly like doves;
We hope for justice, but there is none,
For salvation, but it is far from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And we know our iniquities: Transgressing and denying the LORD,
And turning away from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words. Justice is turned back,
And righteousness stands far away;
For truth has stumbled in the street,
And uprightness cannot enter.

Isaiah 59:9-14 (NASB)

It is a rather startling transition from idolatry to repentance and mourning. The people were broken when every distraction and material good was ripped away from them and it was then when they realized how far they had strayed from God. It is amazing how God can convict us and change us when our lives are not jammed packed with bloated schedules and constant need for human interaction. We need to take an honest look at our own lives and see where we ignore Him, or even where we even completely close Him out from our lives. Take a second....seriously....take a second now...



What am I doing to glorify God with my daily life?



Do not let sin be the separation that keeps you from doing what you were made to do. God wants us to draw to Him and sometimes that means we have to remove some things from our lives in order to seek after Him.