Isaiah 55:6 -7 (NKJV) "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."
1 John 2: 15 - 17 >> The world has many illusions. It is possible to live under a delusion. You may think that you are kind, considerate and gracious, when you are really not. You think you are building positive values into your children when in reality, if you could check with them twenty years later, you find out you really didn't. You seek knowledge to solve your limited abilities or to enlighten your ignorance. Man has designed cars to ease transportation, aeroplanes to solve weightlessness, religion to fit God in a small box and beautiful garments to adorn our tainted hearts.
What our efforts have failed to do is to solve our heart problems.
I had the chance to be in the audience when a former alcohol and marijuana addict was sharing his testimony about his experience at Alcohol Anonymous (AA) and his redemption from addiction. The first thing they were told there was that they are powerless.
You see, this mirrors our current abilities as human beings - We can only do so much, by our own strength. Kenya is mainly a religious country but that cannot account for the high crime rates, the debauchery culture of the youth, the corruption of the politicians and the broken homes and marriages, prevalent in our society. Clearly, these outer forms of meager morality and futile fortitude in the life journey prove that there is much more to these complex issues.
In many ways, we are similar to this man, in that we are powerless. The very things we want to stop doing are the very things we do (Romans 7:14 - 15). The things we want to do, we lack the strength in doing them with consistency.
Paul could not be more accurate in describing the current state of the world or the last days as he calls it. The current state of the world has become defined by the obsession of people with the consumption of power, as if it is part of our life diet, to the point of murders, strife and hatred among 'competitors'. Lusts of the flesh are the reason for unfaithful relationships, revelry, adultery, idolatry, fornication and the fact that we are lovers of ourselves rather than lovers of God (2 Timothy 7: 14 -15).
Reflecting on this core scripture from Isaiah, we see that we ought to turn from our unrighteousness (Philippians 3:8 - 9) because we serve a Holy God. We cannot approach him with 'our filthy rugs'. If you ask anyone, even a random person in the street, they will probably tell you they want to go to Heaven - The only problem is that only God, the King of Kings, who has His everlasting throne there has the entrance manual to this place of eternal joy, peace and perfect fellowship (John 14:6). We do not serve a passive God, we serve a God who is living, interested and involved in the daily details that form our lives. Man has tried and continues to try to create a perfect society, a mimicry of Heaven on earth. Solomon says that 'there is nothing new under the sun'. The world has its illusions and deceptions, and the devil, who is the prince of the air, has come to kill, to steal and to destroy (John 10:10) but there is life and indeed eternal, abundant life in Christ. Life on earth is but a mist, a temporary journey with eternal consequences. At the end of time, we have to answer for our deeds on earth. It will not be a situation of 'God you know my parents were Christians . . . ' or 'I was reading the bible with my friend'. No, it will be an individual affair (2 Corinthians 5:10).
Let us render our hearts to the Lord, not our garments, our hearts. There's no theme dressing to gain entrance, He expects us just as we are. Let us seek the Lord while He may still be found.
Additional reading: Psalms 103
Meditating question: What shall you be found with?
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