Rēad to Read …Again
Daily Reading: Isaiah 59-63
Isaiah 59:1-2
Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
Israel is going and will be going through a very difficult time. Isaiah is there to help. He was uniquely called of God to give Israel, as well as the Gentile nations, both warnings and hope. On one hand there is God and His ability to save; on the other the people of Israel who have been separated from Him. The same is true even unto today. God is able, but sin always results in a separation from Him. For just a moment or two think about this.
To what, or whom, are those that sin separated unto? To be separated from God means that we have left Him. If separated from Him, where are we? If not in His presence we must be in the presence of something or someone else instead of Him. Not wanting to speculate on that something or someone just think. We are not with Him. We have separated from Him.
Is that where a person desires to be? Separated from God. Probably not. To live a life absent of His presence. Absent of His blessings. Absent of His power. Absent of His leadership. Absent of His comfort. Absent of about a thousand other benefits of being with Him. Who in their right mind wants that? But that is exactly what sin does. It separates. God is clear about this, …your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. Notice, God did not separate Himself from the sinner. Neither did He hide His face from them. Nor does He not have the ability to hear them. The separation is a result of sin.
Sin always separates. How many friends have been lost because of the sin of one or both in that relationship? Marriages, parent/child relationships, and any other relationship will be ruined and ultimately the parties will separate from the other if sin enters in. How much money has been separated from its owner because of the cost of sin? How many healthy bodies have become ill from sinful practices? How many churches have “split” over the sin of not loving, preferring, and dealing with things Biblically between brothers and sisters of that church? Mark it down, in things spiritual sin is the knife that separates.
But there is hope! Hope for those who are separated from God. He is there. Right where He was left, He is still there. Like the father of the prodigal, the Lord God in Heaven is at home, waiting, longing, and desiring that the prodigal return. I believe He walks up and down the altar at every church during the invitation, the altar call, waiting for that sinner to come home to Him. Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: He will hear you, His everlasting hand will reach out and save you. His face can shine upon you.
This is the good news in a nutshell. God is there. Waiting. Yearning. Longing for sinners to come home. He promised this to Israel in their day and has promised it to us in our day, for that great invitation that the Lord Jesus issued at that feast so many years ago still echoes through the tunnels of time. …Jesus stood and cried, saying. If any man thirst, let him come unto to me, and drink. (John 7:37) If any person is thirsty for His presence in their life all they have to do is simply go to Him by faith.
After all, let it be asked again. If a person is separated from Him, where are they?
Dr. William T. Howe
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