Yes, that is the call that God, the Almighty Father has been giving to the Israelites in the past and to the contemporary Christians. To build the context of discussion, let’s read following few verses from Bible: Isaiah 1:11 He says, "Do you think I want all these sacrifices you keep offering to me?”.
Isaiah 1:14 “I hate your New Moon Festivals and holy days; they are a burden that I am tired of bearing.”
As we read the above verses we find that there are indeed few things that our God is also sometimes tired off. We find that God is really not pleased by the unworthy and monotonous sacrifices that Israelites (the chosen people of God) have been presenting religiously before God. To understand as to why God is considering their sacrifices as burden in Isaiah 1:14 we need to read Isaiah 1:4 "You are doomed, you sinful nation, you corrupt and evil people! Your sins drag you down! You have rejected the LORD, the holy God of Israel, and have turned your backs on him.". It’s really disturbing and heartbreaking to know that the nation that was once so close to God, is now being hated by God to this extent that He is not willing to accept anything from them. The reason is simple to understand. If we give attention to the last portion of Isaiah 1:4 it says that Israelites have rejected the Lord and have turned their backs on Him. Even though this has been said about the Israelites of past it holds equally true for the modern day Christians as well. Its not Bulls or Rams but the present day Christians also sacrifice to God and that sacrifice is our Praise that we present through our lips. We must understand that even though we are offering sacrifices of Praise through our lips to our Father in Heaven, at times they are burden to Him. Isaiah 1:15 further says "When you lift your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood.” Now this is something that all Christians should seriously note. Meditating on above verses will help us understand the reasons of our failure as a Christian. As I was reading all these passages I was trying to correlate these verses with the life of a Christian today. Isaiah 1:4 says "...You have rejected/forsaken the LORD...". Its easy to overlook or bypass this verse thinking that we are born again Christians and so it does not apply to us but pausing on this portion for a moment will help us understand that the Christ who should be our eternal part throughout our day to day Christians life has just become a mere entity confined within the walls of Church. As an example, Many times we find Christians, who sound so humble and sweet inside the church, but we find them arguing unnecessarily on petty issues with other people in their vicinity. Problem is even though we have not rejected Christ in totality but we are unable to carry Him along with us always especially when it’s our golden chance to become a facade of Christ in this world. We continue to reject our Christ and Our heavenly Father at many instances of our routine lives. After reading Isaiah 1:15 that says "... No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood.” I just casually tried to stare at my hands whether my hands are really covered with blood but I found nothing. It so happened that suddenly I was reminded by the Spirit of God about 1John 3:15 "Those who hate others are murderers...” I was dumbfounded when I read that verse. Knowingly or unknowingly, we start judging and hating our fellow Christians on trivial things. At times we turn a blind eye to the pleas of our fellow Christians on the pretext of our spoiled relationship with them. We forget this small truth that God considers us like a murderer if we nurture hatred for our fellow Christians for whatever reasons. Bible Says, Many times we ourselves are the biggest stumbling block to the faith of our fellow Christians (1Corinthians 8:11, 12). All these things God have been telling to His very own people (and the so called today's born again Christians too).
Just to conclude my words with a word of warning mentioned in Revelation 2. After commending the Church of Ephesus in Revelation 2: 2,3; God's spirit suddenly brought out a serious problem in the Church of Ephesus and it's that, "But this is what I have against you: you do not love me now as you did at first. Think how far you have fallen! Turn from your sins and do what you did at first. If you don't turn from your sins, I will come to you and take your lamp stand from its place." -Revelation 2:4,5. If we give a careful reading, these words were told to the church of Ephesus (i.e. to the born again Christians), God is urging members of Church to "Turn away from their sins..." Well In plain words, this precisely means that God is telling us to Repent Again and get renewed again in our Christian Faith. Someone rightly said, “In heaven, God will not ask us why we sinned; He will ask us why we didn't repent”. It’s a wakeup call that reminds all of us that Repentance is not a onetime process that makes us eligible for getting baptized in the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy spirit but it’s indeed a continuous and a never ending process for a true Christian. We need to examine ourselves continuously without miss (Psalms 139:23, 24) to keep ourselves properly tuned to the will of God while we run the race of faith on this earth.
As we live in this world ruled by Enemy, we at times knowingly or unknowingly step into muddy waters of Sins and so its critical for us to cleanse ourselves daily with the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ (Psalms 51:7) and eternally enjoy the Joy of Salvation that comes from our Father (Psalms 51:12). Let’s stop blaming and judging fellow Christians and let’s pray “Lord, reform Thy world, beginning with me.”.
God Bless You,
Bro. Santosh Thankachan
Isaiah 1:14 “I hate your New Moon Festivals and holy days; they are a burden that I am tired of bearing.”
As we read the above verses we find that there are indeed few things that our God is also sometimes tired off. We find that God is really not pleased by the unworthy and monotonous sacrifices that Israelites (the chosen people of God) have been presenting religiously before God. To understand as to why God is considering their sacrifices as burden in Isaiah 1:14 we need to read Isaiah 1:4 "You are doomed, you sinful nation, you corrupt and evil people! Your sins drag you down! You have rejected the LORD, the holy God of Israel, and have turned your backs on him.". It’s really disturbing and heartbreaking to know that the nation that was once so close to God, is now being hated by God to this extent that He is not willing to accept anything from them. The reason is simple to understand. If we give attention to the last portion of Isaiah 1:4 it says that Israelites have rejected the Lord and have turned their backs on Him. Even though this has been said about the Israelites of past it holds equally true for the modern day Christians as well. Its not Bulls or Rams but the present day Christians also sacrifice to God and that sacrifice is our Praise that we present through our lips. We must understand that even though we are offering sacrifices of Praise through our lips to our Father in Heaven, at times they are burden to Him. Isaiah 1:15 further says "When you lift your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood.” Now this is something that all Christians should seriously note. Meditating on above verses will help us understand the reasons of our failure as a Christian. As I was reading all these passages I was trying to correlate these verses with the life of a Christian today. Isaiah 1:4 says "...You have rejected/forsaken the LORD...". Its easy to overlook or bypass this verse thinking that we are born again Christians and so it does not apply to us but pausing on this portion for a moment will help us understand that the Christ who should be our eternal part throughout our day to day Christians life has just become a mere entity confined within the walls of Church. As an example, Many times we find Christians, who sound so humble and sweet inside the church, but we find them arguing unnecessarily on petty issues with other people in their vicinity. Problem is even though we have not rejected Christ in totality but we are unable to carry Him along with us always especially when it’s our golden chance to become a facade of Christ in this world. We continue to reject our Christ and Our heavenly Father at many instances of our routine lives. After reading Isaiah 1:15 that says "... No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood.” I just casually tried to stare at my hands whether my hands are really covered with blood but I found nothing. It so happened that suddenly I was reminded by the Spirit of God about 1John 3:15 "Those who hate others are murderers...” I was dumbfounded when I read that verse. Knowingly or unknowingly, we start judging and hating our fellow Christians on trivial things. At times we turn a blind eye to the pleas of our fellow Christians on the pretext of our spoiled relationship with them. We forget this small truth that God considers us like a murderer if we nurture hatred for our fellow Christians for whatever reasons. Bible Says, Many times we ourselves are the biggest stumbling block to the faith of our fellow Christians (1Corinthians 8:11, 12). All these things God have been telling to His very own people (and the so called today's born again Christians too).
Just to conclude my words with a word of warning mentioned in Revelation 2. After commending the Church of Ephesus in Revelation 2: 2,3; God's spirit suddenly brought out a serious problem in the Church of Ephesus and it's that, "But this is what I have against you: you do not love me now as you did at first. Think how far you have fallen! Turn from your sins and do what you did at first. If you don't turn from your sins, I will come to you and take your lamp stand from its place." -Revelation 2:4,5. If we give a careful reading, these words were told to the church of Ephesus (i.e. to the born again Christians), God is urging members of Church to "Turn away from their sins..." Well In plain words, this precisely means that God is telling us to Repent Again and get renewed again in our Christian Faith. Someone rightly said, “In heaven, God will not ask us why we sinned; He will ask us why we didn't repent”. It’s a wakeup call that reminds all of us that Repentance is not a onetime process that makes us eligible for getting baptized in the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy spirit but it’s indeed a continuous and a never ending process for a true Christian. We need to examine ourselves continuously without miss (Psalms 139:23, 24) to keep ourselves properly tuned to the will of God while we run the race of faith on this earth.
As we live in this world ruled by Enemy, we at times knowingly or unknowingly step into muddy waters of Sins and so its critical for us to cleanse ourselves daily with the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ (Psalms 51:7) and eternally enjoy the Joy of Salvation that comes from our Father (Psalms 51:12). Let’s stop blaming and judging fellow Christians and let’s pray “Lord, reform Thy world, beginning with me.”.
God Bless You,
Bro. Santosh Thankachan
