A massive thank you to my dear friend Sarah Tummey for writing this week’s devotional.
“I am now ready to visit you the third time, and I will not be a burden to you. I want nothing from you, except you” – 2 Corinthians 12:14. Paul wrote this verse to believers in Corinth and southern Greece, but I’ve always liked it because I think that’s what God wants most from us – not our possessions or the works we do for Him, but us as people.
Isaiah wrote about how Jerusalem had turned against God. He said: “Heaven and earth, listen, because the Lord is speaking: ‘I raised my children and helped them grow up, but they have turned against Me. An ox knows its master, and a donkey knows where its owner feeds it, but the people of Israel do not know Me; My people do not understand.’ How terrible! Israel is a nation of sin, a people loaded down with guilt, a group of children doing evil, children who are full of evil. They have left the Lord; they hate God, the Holy One of Israel, and have turned away from Him as if He were a stranger” – Isaiah 1:2-4. God says the sacrifices and festivals they hold have become a heavy weight on Him – because they’re going through the motions outwardly, but their hearts have turned away from Him and they’re not living the way God wants them to. He tells them how to change: Learn to do good; seek justice; help orphans and widows, and despite their lack of warmth towards Him, He gives them comfort. “’I will turn against you and clean away all your wrongs as if with soap; I will take all the worthless things out of you. I will bring back judges as you had long ago; your counsellors will be like those you had in the beginning. Then you will be called the City That Is Right with God, the Loyal City.’ By doing what is fair, Jerusalem will be free again. By doing what is right, her people who come back to the Lord will have freedom” – Isaiah 1:25-27. What God wants from us, first and foremost, is a heart that doesn’t hate and turn away from Him. Then all He asks for is a willingness to stand up for what’s right and help people in need.
Maybe the way we’ve turned away from Him makes us feel ashamed. David felt that way after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and conspired to have her husband murdered. He was confronted with his sin and poured his heart out to God. “You are not pleased by sacrifices, or I would give them. You don’t want burnt offerings. The sacrifice God wants is a broken spirit. God, You will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for sin” – Psalm 51:16-17.
God could hold out judgment for our wrong attitudes and all we’ve done to offend Him, but instead, He holds out hope. “’Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?’ declares the Sovereign Lord. ‘Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?’” – Ezekiel 18:23. God doesn’t want to see any of us destroyed. He wants to offer us life and freedom. I don’t fully understand what that freedom looks like here on earth, but it’s better than living without Him.
To read more from Sarah, please visit her blog