Isaiah 1:15-18, 26b-27 (ESV)
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean…
cease to do evil,
learn to do good…
“Come now, let us reason 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…
Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness,
the faithful city.”
Zion shall be redeemed by justice,
and those in her who repent, by righteousness.
“What does God see that we don’t? Our hands bloody? Jesus said that murder can take many forms, including anger, cutting words and unresolved relational tension (Matthew 5:21-24).
God is more ready to meet us with grace than we thought. His invitation is irresistible: God is saying, ‘Come on, let’s talk this over. Here’s my invitation. You present your blood-red hands to me in open confession, I’ll wash you clean in the blood of Jesus, and your worship will come alive.’
We are redeemed at a cost to God that we will never understand. At the cross he put the real moral guilt of sinners onto Christ, the perfect substitute. What else can we do but repent? We need to repent of our sins every day. We need to receive afresh, with the empty hands of faith, real righteousness from Jesus Christ every day.” (Ortlund, Raymond C. Jr. Isaiah: God Saves Sinners.)
Prayer: Father, thank you for righteousness and redemption in Jesus. I turn to you today with empty hands of faith and ask for cleansing and righteousness afresh, that I may live like you in this world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Let’s worship the Lord in song with “Upon Him” by Matt Redman (click here).
-BR