Wednesday, September 19: Isaiah 8- Don't take God's grace for granted.

The last straw has been broken; Israel (the northern kingdom) will be judged, overrun by the Assyrians. For too long Israel has gone her own way. She will not listen to God's call to return. She will not revere the Lord. God Himself will be a stumbling stone on which Israel stumbles… Judgment comes if we don't trust and honor the Lord

The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread. He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured." (13-15)

Reading this chapter, the words of Isaiah in verse 13 hit me. The Lord is the one I am to regard as holy. The Lord is the one I am to fear and dread. Recently I remember preaching the story of Ananias and Sapphira. In that passage and again today, through the words of Isaiah, I was confronted with the power, majesty and justice of God. He is to be feared. He alone is the holy and mighty one and God is not to be trifled with… ever.

For too long Israel refused to grant God His due and worship Him alone. Eventually God's hammer fell with the sword of Assyria.

God is gracious, but God's grace must not be taken for granted. When God calls me (us) to repent; we must repent. When God reveals our sin, our response should be 'forgive me, Lord. Cleanse me, Lord.' It is in those moments that we need to fall on our faces before the Lord and reach out for His forgiveness. Over and over God extended His hand to Israel but they swatted it, reaching for a false god instead.

May their error be a reminder not to do as they did. Instead accept God's gracious invitation to confess and be forgiven…

Oh, Lord, I have not loved You as I ought or loved my neighbor as myself. I have not kept my way pure… I turn to You and reach for Your forgiveness, believing the promise of 1John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Thank You for this gift of forgiveness, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.