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Isaiah 63:17, 19; 64:5-9 NLT
Isaiah 63:17, 19; 64:5-9 NLT
Lord, why have you allowed us to turn from your path? Why have you given us stubborn hearts so we no longer fear you? Return and help us, for we are your servants, the tribes that are your special possession...
Sometimes it seems as though we never belonged to you, as though we had never been known as your people.
You welcome those who gladly do good, who follow godly ways. But you have been very angry with us, for we are not godly. We are constant sinners; how can people like us be saved?
We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.
Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins.
And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.
Don’t be so angry with us, Lord . Please don’t remember our sins forever. Look at us, we pray, and see that we are all your people.
__________________________
Runaways, Returnable? repent, reflection, related?
Righteous?
Ridiculous!
Ridiculous!
Rescue required.
Rage.
Rut.
Rags.
Rut.
Rags.
Regret.
Reason.
Reason.
Repentance
Remembrance removed.
Received?
Reunited!
____
On behalf of God's people Isaiah pleads for God to rescue them.
I picked out these verses in chapters 63 and 64 of Isaiah because they serve as a model. You and I can look at this plea as a pattern for our own repentance.
Recognising our need for God to rescue us from ourselves will lead to change.
The restoration that God has planned for you and me is begun in us by repentance.
Repentance is a recognition that we're on the wrong road. We're going the wrong way. We look at the horizon and we admit we're lost. We notice an increasing loneliness; we recoil at the repugnant odor of our rebellion.
Repentance is seeing what we're missing. Repentance is longing to be home. Repentance is the prodigal ready to serve. Rehearsing apologies. Readying the heart for welcome.
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