Our theme for this month: “Mistakes”
Our Bible verse for today: “Come, let us discuss this, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land.” Isaiah 1:18-19 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “God will forgive our mistakes and bless us once again.”
Back in Isaiah’s day the majority of the Hebrews were living lives far removed from what God expected of them. As a nation, when they had a good king such as Uzziah and Hezekiah, they were a little more faithful. But when the leadership was bad, such as under king Ahaz, they largely abandoned God. As individuals and as a nation they were chasing after material possessions, and foreign women, and the gods of the nations around them. Throughout the course of Isaiah’s long ministry there were good times and bad, but disobedience to the Lord was rampant and therefore the people and the nation suffered.
So God had Isaiah call the people to repentance and spiritual purification. In 1:16 he wrote, “Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil.” In verse 17 God said, “Learn to do what is good. Seek justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause.”
Then in verse 18 God actually invited the people to be reasonable and to discuss their sad situation with Him. He even promised that although their mistakes were significant, and although their sins were like a scarlet stain on a pure white cloth, He would cleanse them, remove the stain, and make them white as snow. If only they would willingly repent and be obedient to His commands once again, then He would be able to bless their lives: “… you will eat the good things of the land.”
The same is true for us. There is no mistake we have made, no sin we have committed, which God won’t forgive and restore us from. All it takes is a willing and repentant heart, followed by a sincere desire to go and sin no more. That then returns us to a place where God can once again bless our lives. The great truth is that God will forgive our mistakes and He will bless us once again. We just need to return to Him.
God Bless,
Oak Hill Baptist Church 