“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the
Lord; have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed
beasts; do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When
you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my
courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon
and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and
solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to
me; I am weary of bearing them” (Isaiah 1:11-14, ESV).
As believers in God, we at times will use words that
describe God’s attributes such as omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. We use these words to wrap our limited knowledge
and descriptive capacities as we describe the unlimited and unfathomable
nature, knowledge and capacities of God.
Yet we live at times, in a way as if God were unaware of our
actions, intentions, schemes and sin.
This falseness is always present in sin and in lesser degrees in all
activities seem religious but really distance our living from God’s plans and
ways.
God truly tires of all falseness especially our religiosity because
He is aware of both the pretense and the destruction any course of sin will
bring. All that is deceptive is never hidden from Him and so He carries the
burden of waiting for us to both see the truth of our sin and come back to Him
in repentance. Falseness separates God
from us in every spurious action we take part in, just as falseness distances
all parties in all relationships. Falseness also is a heavy burden to the human
heart and mind as it travels the distance from first numbing us to the truth of
who we are, to eventually overloading us with shame and guilt as we become aware
of the truth. Sometimes the only person we deceive is our self. Falseness if unchecked and unaltered
eventually destroys everything and it will eventually destroy us.
God is not only mighty in His power but He is mighty in His
mercy and love. Our Father carries our burden of falseness and sin until we
come to Him for cleansing grace, redemption and restoration. What a remarkable Father we have, to see
through all our falseness and still wait for us! What an incredible Redeemer we
have, to welcome us as He washes our sin of falseness away as we come in
repentance. What an unbelievable Healer
we have to restore us and provide the good that only He can give. We all need to stop any pretending and give
all our days to Him by following His Spirit and His ways.
“Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of
your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek
justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause. “Come now, let us
reason[a] together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they
are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat
the good of the land …” (Isaiah 1:18-19, ESV).
Suggested Reading … Isaiah 1
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