May 29, 2024

Passage Read: Isaiah 31-34
Meditation Verses: 33:14-16

Thought

There are sinners and there are those who walk righteously. To the sinner, God is a consuming fire that burns continually, and they cannot endure His presence. It is because they refuse to repent and change their ways, so the Lord is continually disciplining them. But to the one who walks righteously, the Lord is a secure dwelling place and a delight. The righteous looks forward to dwelling in the presence of the Lord. If He is fire to the righteous, it is only to burn away the impurities and direct Him in the way He wants him to go, and he wants to learn those ways! But the sinner doesn't want to change, so the Lord is only fire and doom.

Application

There are two kinds of people: Those who hate that the Lord is continually trying to correct them and those who welcome the Lord's continual guidance and correction. This is the difference between the sinner and the righteous. How one perceives the Lord, as either a continual burning or a desired refuge, reveals which kind of person he is. How do I see the Lord? As an impossible-to-please tyrant or a loving father with much yet to teach me? How I perceive the Lord reveals whether I am a sinner still in my sin and unwilling to forsake it, or whether I am in fact someone pursuing righteousness and eager to learn. This also tells me where others are: If they cannot stand the continual rebuke and call to repentance of the Lord, they are sinners unwilling to repent; but if they appreciate regular correction or have no fear of it, they are people committed to knowing the Lord and who desire to learn and conform themselves to His likeness.