Today’s Reading, Isaiah 1-4
Focal Scripture: Isaiah 1:17 “Learn to do what is good. Pursue justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause.”
Sacrifice is very important in the Old Testament. It was part of the daily life and culture of the Jewish community. Sacrifices took place because God took sin very serious. Sacrifices took place because sin had to be accounted for in the life of every person, this way they could be allowed to worship freely and biblically. However, over the centuries sacrifice became a habit and did not reflect true heart change and repentance over sin.
In today’s reading we see a vision given to Isaiah the prophet. This vision declares what God wanted from his people and it wasn’t sacrifice. It was evidence of a heart change. Look at the words that are spoken here by the Lord. God wants his people to lead to do what is good, for his people to pursue justice, for the oppressors to be corrected, defend the fatherless, and plead the widows case. The Lord wanted more than sacrifice, he wanted the changed hearts of his people.
This truth should convict us today in our context. Far too often we have professing believers who do all the right things but have a heart that is far from the Lord. Looking at them you would say they meet what you think a believer should look like on the outside. However, we are not judged by what we look like on the outside. We are judged by a changed heart.
This is what God wanted the people to understand through Isaiah. God wanted their heart not just their actions. The same goes for you! God wants your heart not just your actions. Genuine conversion does something to a person. They are changed forever and it is not something that one can just get over.
I challenge you today to examine your heart. Are you going through the motions or has your heart been changed. Don’t examine your acts or church attendance but critique your heart. Do you long to please the Lord or do you long to check off boxes?
Your eternity hangs in the balance. Don’t rely on your actions or church work to give you access to heaven. Rely on a changed heart that can only come from Christ.
Tomorrow, I plan on reading Isaiah 5-8
