May 21, 2024

Passage Read: Song of Solomon 7 - Isaiah 2
Meditation Verses: Isaiah 2:2-3

Thought

Redemption has always been so that we might learn God's ways. When Christ reigns, all the nations will come and learn from Jesus the ways of the Lord. God's frustration in chapter one, His rejection of their sacrifices is because they haven't learned His ways; they've turned the sacrificial system into a means to live in sin yet be forgiven by God for their deliberate rebellion. The sacrificial system was to teach them the horror of sin and motivate them to walk in obedience. But they became rich and the sacrifices were no longer costly or burdensome. We are just like them when we treat Jesus's sacrifice as if it was nothing; it didn't cost us anything and we have no empathy for what God did in sending His Own Son. So we think little of His commands and instructions, and instead pursue our freedom to do as we wish.

Application

Jesus died for me to secure my forgiveness and a changed heart and nature for me, so that I would learn God's ways and walk in them. He didn't just secure my forgiveness, but made me righteous. He didn't just impart His righteousness to me, but made me into someone who cares about living righteously, because I am a new creation whose very nature is righteous. I am made to want to know God's ways and do them, so I should diligently study the Scriptures to know God, who He is and what He delights in, and it should be my delight to think like Him and act like Him. That's what God has been seeking from the beginning to the end. That's what He desires from me.