Faith

by Debbie Wallis

doings from My eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor, Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow,” Isaiah 1:16-17. God does His part and requires an action on our part; wash, make, put away, cease, learn, do, seek, rebuke, defend and plea Jesus put Himself on the cross and took back the keys of hell for our sins Our part is to come to Him in repentance and believe

As Isaiah relayed, “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword ” God blesses obedience

“Come now, and 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 be as wool,” Isaiah 1:18

Christians love that verse We go back and remind ourselves often that our sins are gone and remembered no more by the Lord We’ve seen demonstrations of sins washed as white as snow and, rightly so, it brings encouragement. I thought of it several times these past few weeks with all the ice and snow we’ve had here in North Texas.

Cardinals seem to love the cold. You can spot that red against the white snow for blocks away! But, if I stopped at verse 18, I would be interrupting Isaiah’s interpretation of what God was saying! He did not stop speaking until verse 20 “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken,” Isaiah 1:19-20 Earlier in verse 16 He tells us to “wash yourself, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I will be white as snow,” Psalm 51:7 This was a plea from King David to the Lord for forgiveness He had sinned with Bathsheba, not only did he commit adultery; he lied and murdered to cover it up. David is seeking a deep heart cleanse from the Lord and uses symbols to express that. Clothes were literally beaten and pounded until all traces of dirt was removed and Hyssop was a bushy, bitter herb used for internal cleanses and as a tool, like a scrub brush, for scouring and cleaning He wanted more than a quick fix; he wanted the very desire for sin to be removed

In the story of Cain and Abel, Cain’s sacrifice was done with leftovers from his crop, he was greedy Abel’s sacrifice of his best lamb was one from a heart of obedience and gratitude When Cain realized God was pleased with Abel’s sacrifice but not his he became jealous. His jealously led to murder. But unlike King David, when Cain was asked by God, “Cain, where is your brother, Abel?” in Gen.4:9, he responded back to God, “I do not know Am I my brother’s keeper?” God considered King David a man of His own heart Cain was cursed and sent out of his land God told Cain that his work would never prosper

Since Adam and Eve’s sin all humans have been born with a sin nature We sin, we repent, and we learn from our mistakes and mess up again God knows our heart He knows our motives and our intentions “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Romans 6:23 Accepting the gift of the cross is when our sins are washed as clean as snow. Purposely denying the cost is what Cain did. We don’t have to burn a sacrifice, Jesus did that for us and He doesn’t have to return to the cross as a sacrifice over and over, again It was finished because He was the perfect lamb That was His part and your part is to “wash, make, put away, cease, learn, do, seek, rebuke, defend and plea ” David did not deny his wrongs His heart cried out for a change Cain denied his evil heart and made no attempt of repentance Two murders, two different outcomes We all have a choice

If you do not have a Bible please contact me at sfadebbie@yahoo.com and I will provide you one.

Top Dogs