“… let us reason together …”
“Come now, let us reason together,”
says the LORD.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the best from the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
(Isaiah 1:18-20; NIV. Please read Isaiah 1-5.)
To a people who were willful and rebellious … who were heartless and hypocritical … the Lord spoke. Through His prophet Isaiah, God invites them to “reason together” with Him.
They are unreasonable … but He is willing to reason with them.
They are sinful … but He is willing to forgive them.
They are rebellious … but He is willing to discipline them.
Are we so different now? Are we not unreasonable, when it comes to accepting His Word and His way? Are we not sinful, when it comes to our lives and influences on others? Are we not rebellious, when it comes to submitting to His will?
Some things never seem to change. Thank God that He doesn’t … for He is still willing to reason, forgive, and train us.
ON SECOND THOUGHT: The prophet Isaiah spoke for God to a people who were experiencing political and religious upheaval. If by some “coincidence” we were living in a nation undergoing similar stressors might we be able to find some comfort or correction in the message they received from God?
May 25, 2008 at 7:14 pm
I like the idea of Him sitting down to reason with me. He doesn’t just zap me … He talks to me … with me. He gives me the reasons I need to do what He says. He gives me the reasons that He is going to take care of me. He reasons. He explains. He does not exact a punishment without first warning me it’s coming and giving me a chance to repent. He doesn’t just expect me to do something without giving me the knowledge or ability to do it.
Sometimes with children we expect things from them that we have not taught them. We expect things that we are not willing to do ourselves. We punish them for doing things that we actually do ourselves. We want them to have consequences that don’t match the wrongdoing.
God doesn’t treat His children this way. He teaches us how to be. He gave us Jesus to be a living example of His expectation. He forgives us beyond what we deserve, but does not keep us from having consequences to help us learn to do different.
He’s the perfect Father. The perfect Savior. The perfect Teacher.
May 25, 2008 at 8:10 pm
God’s love is evident in the way He treats His children. He wants them to do right, gives them every opportunity to do right, warns them and explains what punishment will come if they do not do right. He doesn’t want to punish them, He would rather they choose to do what is right. That is how I feel with my children. God is just and faithful in carrying out His punishment and keeping His promise. I cannot claim that.
It is a comfort to read that “it will be well with the righteous.” God was going to punish His people for turning away from His commands. He was warning them…you proud people are going to be humbled. Woe to the wicked. But He promises the righteous that it will be well with them. I am not righteous on my own, but through Jesus’ blood I am made that way. So God sees me as righteous and spotless. So if I can keep walking after Jesus…keep trying to be like Jesus…keep seeking and learning and growing….all will be well.