Isaiah 58: He First Loved Us

Lessons from the second reading of Isaiah chapters 58-60 (ESV quoted):

"Cry aloud, do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins." (58:1 ESV)

My people....God does not forget for one second, even in the midst of His displeasure, that these are HIS people. He doesn't disown them; He doesn't disassociate Himself from them. The possessive tone of that phrase is beautiful:  whatever I do, however far I wander, I am HIS and He won't forget me.

That's not to say there won't be consequences for my sin, and I don't want to minimize that -- Isaiah 58 is all about the sin of the Israelites and the consequences for their sin. We're getting to that, but for now, I want to stop and revel in the knowledge that I am HIS....always.

"Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God." (58:2 ESV)

The first time I read this, I almost thought the Israelites were pleasing to God in their behavior, but the phrase beginning with "as if" tells the tale. If God found them pleasing to Him, they would have been behaving righteously, in addition to seeking the judgment of God, and delighting to draw near to Him.

"Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves and you take no knowledge of it?" (58:3 ESV)

Now we're getting to the truth! This is the heart of the matter. The Israelites are saying, "We did _____ in your name, and then we even _____, just so you would think well of us." That might not sound so bad at first, but let's put it in terms of our marriage. What if I took the day off, cleaned the house, and did all the laundry, in hopes that my husband would take me out to eat and then take me shopping when he got home? When my husband got home, he thanked me for what I had done but didn't offer to take me out at all. So...I stomped my feet and cried, and said, "Why did I clean the house and you didn't reward me? Why did I do the laundry and you didn't take me shopping?" I didn't clean the house and do the laundry because I loved my husband and wanted to please him -- I did it because I wanted acknowledgment and reward.

Oops...my heart attitude is showing. So was Israel's, and God called them out for it. It's a fine line, this doing the right thing. It's not enough to do right for the sake of doing right. Our well-doing must come as a result of the overflow of a thankful and loving heart, a heart that can't help but do right because it is so thankful to God for His great love, His grace, His mercy, His sacrifice, and His innumerable daily blessings on our lives. God wants our adoration to be a direct response to His love. He loved us first, before we ever knew Him. He called us, chose us in Him, and brought us to Himself. We love in response, not in expectation. This was Israel's downfall.

Lord God, lover of my soul...let me love you more and more today because You first loved me. Let my love be true, not in expectation of anything I'll get from loving You. Let it be just for the beauty of who You are, just in gratitude for my very breath and life today. I owe all I am and have to You, and I am grateful.