For day after day they seek Me and delight to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not forsake the justice of their God. They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God. Isaiah 58: 2 (BSB)
I chuckled when I saw this image for this devotional because if you were in my office right now, you would see three open Bibles that I use daily during my devotional time. This morning was no different as I sought God with a deeper craving for intimacy after a busy week and if I could be honest, wasted time that could have been used more constructively by putting in moments to build our relationship with intentional focused fellowship.
“Sorry Lord”, I whispered under my breath after retrospectively contemplating the many layers of these scripture versus and the busyness of this time sucking world that attempts and if we let it, win by stripping us away from precious time that could be devoted in prayer and worship. So, this morning, I reset after my repent and dwelled in His nearness and oh how delightful it was.
When reading these versus, I ventured over to one that can be a tough pill to swallow but that correlates to “delighting in His ways”. Isaiah 59:2 which was a warning to God’s people many years ago, but one in which we can apply today. Isaiah states in this verse “but your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.” And if we are honest, I am sure something comes to mind right now that we need to surrender to Him.
“Why”? you may ask and I believe it is because it is for our best interest and for our protection. To delight in the nearness is to love what God loves and to hate what He hates. He loves us, but not our sin. He delights in us, but not in our iniquity. He will draw near to us if we draw near to Him, but that involves dying to self and turning back to Him, daily.
If you are in a space, where you sense God asking you what He asked Adam in the garden: “_______________ (your name), where are you?”, be honest, because He already knows. Spend time mediating on these versus and delight in His nearness. He has so much to tell you, but the further in sin you are, the harder it is to hear Him clearly. I am speaking from experience and recognize how tangible is His presence.
Stay Encouraged.
Seek Him. Obey the Call. Complete Your Assignment.
Complete Your Calling 