Chasing who

DEVOTION

ISAIAH

CHASING WHO

Isa 5:11-17

11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine. 12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets, tambourines and flutes and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands. 13 Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding; their men of rank will die of hunger and their masses will be parched with thirst. 14 Therefore the grave enlarges its appetite and opens its mouth without limit; into it will descend their nobles and masses with all their brawlers and revelers. 15 So man will be brought low and mankind humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled. 16 But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will show himself holy by his righteousness. 17 Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture; lambs will feed among the ruins of the rich.

NIV

It seems difficult to image the common man of those days sitting around feasting and drinking in an all-night party atmosphere. That makes more sense for the nobles, or people of wealth. But then this could also be speaking in an analogy speaking about people who rise early in the morning and stay up late at night all in the interest of self-pleasure or doing whatever it takes to gain their desires. Surely believers are not the people who start drinking the first thing in the morning nor have great parties where much food and wine are consumed during the evening hours. The key to understanding how this should be viewed is in the fact this type of people have no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of his hands. We know that the Lord never chases after drink in the morning nor parties at night. We know the Lord’s deeds have everything to do with keeping his people, the work of his hands is always for the good of his people, even when he disciplines it is for the good of his people. He provides for us, everything he did, all of creation was for us to have a place to live. But for his glory, his honor, his pleasure. We are here for him, he is not here for us, although in some sense that is true, he is here for us, to sustain us, to provide for us, to save us from sin. But still it is all for his glory. Nevertheless, what we see is people living their own selfish lives without regard for the reason they are here, to bring him glory. They are chasing after the ways of the world, always being about self. They seek to bring about their own desires, whether that be wealth, possession, anything material, or even about gaining fame in the religious realm, amassing great crowds to listen to a their silver tongue and support their lavish lifestyle. God will not be mocked, he will not stand idle and allow his name to be slandered. Woe to those who do such a thing. The Lord will deal with all those who disregard his deeds, the work of his hands. They will all be brought low, the grave will swallow them all up. The arrogant will find out the justice of the Lord. Woe to anyone who does not pay attention to how God desires us to live. This life of a believer is not about all our man-made restrictions we put on ourselves, such as the Pharisees did, being whitewashed tombs. We might look good to others, but instead are we truly believers, or do we rather trust in ourselves more than God. We trust in our rules and regulations, we trust in our abilities to provide for our desires. The question we have to be honest with ourselves is whether we put more trust in ourselves then God for the physical things in life. Do we really believe, are we really believers, or do we just pretend to believe God completely? Let us not chase after from the crack of dawn into the night hours, the things of this world, Let us chase after God, with all our heart, our mind, our soul and our strength. Let us put to rest that question; who do we chase after? We are the sheep of his pasture, we will graze among the ruins of the rich. It is any clearer?