Self Inflicted

DEVOTION

ISAIAH

SELF INFLICTED

Isa 1:4-6

4 Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. 5 Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. 6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness — only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil.

NIV

It is so easy to view all that the Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah as a history lesson or at least a record of what Israel did and how the Lord dwelt with them. But then of what use is it to be in the Bible. It has been said the Bible is a witness to who God is, or that it is a means for God to reveal himself to his creation. We know that all scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for us, to correct us, to rebuke us, to teach us and to train us in righteousness. Then as we see what the prophet says about Israel we must view this in light of our own way of life. We have to know that Israel did not deny the existence of God, they just rebelled against him. One cannot rebel against what one does not believe exists. It is like children who rebel against their parents. They are not saying their parents are not their parents, they are just refusing to obey them. This is the way in which Israel is a sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption. Surely we are not like that, are we? No, we have become perfectly holy upright and never ever do anything that would be considered sinful. Sarcasm at its finest. How could we be so prideful to think we do not sin? Ah, we are a sinful people, we are not without guilt. If we were not so, we would have no need of Jesus. Even though we are saved, using Jesus as our Savior, our sacrifice for sin, to regain our rightful place in the kingdom of God, being now an eternal being, it does not mean we have no further use for Jesus. Once we have been forgiven we don’t need any further forgiveness if we now are made perfect in Christ. That seems to be the thought in some Christian communities, or at least among some of the members of the community of believers. But in fact every time we make a choice to seek our own path, make our own choice, decide to fulfill some need, yield to some temptation, we are children to corruption. The world’s ways can corrupt us so quickly we may not even recognize it has happened. We cannot say that we sinned by accident, that we did not mean to, it was no our fault. We cannot say the devil made me do it. We made a choice to turn our backs on the Lord. Surely not on a permanent basis, but just for that brief moment in time. Ah, we say, we are only human, and we are not perfect so we are going to sin from time to time. That is true, we are all that and more. But we must know we cannot be like Israel and forsake the Lord completely. Israel kept rebelling, living almost as pagans, wanting to have all the pleasures of life, seeking their own path, and in doing so it hurt them. They were causing more harm to themselves then they needed to, if only they would turn to God. This is how we must live. We cannot go about living in the same manner as the world, trying to please our own desires, our own ambitions, planning out our own life. This will cause us harm. We will not gain anything at all. Even if we gain the whole world, if that is in our plan, then we have lost our soul. We cannot chase after the things of the world and chase after God, it will split us in two. We cannot serve two masters, God and money. We know all these verses and still at times we try, but it is useless. We must not turn the slightest bit from the Lord, even when we sin. Because we do still sin, we are all the more in need of staying in the everlasting arms of Jesus. He stands before the Father continuing to make intercession for us. Yes, we sin, but Jesus has covered our past, present and future failures in his blood. One day we will be perfect and in the presence of God. For now we must see the result of rebellion. It pains God, but it hurts us more.