Passage Read: Isaiah 43-46
Meditation Verses: 44:18-21
Thought
How blind are men? They are so blind they cannot see that what they worship is only wood or clay or stone or porcelain. No matter how they carve it and fashion it and dress it up, it is dirt and dust and ashes! But they cannot see it! They cannot see because the Lord has smeared over their eyes. The Lord has done this, to show how foolish they are and how much greater He is than men, mere shards of clay who think they have begotten themselves. He did this to show the children of Israel how different they were, that they were objects of His mercy and grace: chosen, saved, redeemed, protected, delivered, blessed, exalted. Not because of their righteousness or their goodness, but by His will, His choice. The one, He blinds; the other, He reveals Himself to! They are so blessed, they should be filled with amazement and overwhelming gratitude! They should be shouting for joy! But no, here He is struggling with these people who are so quick to abandon the living God for idols of stone and clay and wood. Who covered their eyes? One nation is blinded, so that another might recognize the undeserved favor they have received; one generation turns away and becomes rejected, so that the next might see their folly, turn and be saved. But how tragic it is when the message comes, the call to repentance, the revelation of truth, and among those so favored, no one listens, no one recognizes, and no one comes to repentance.
Application
God will not lose, but many people will be lost. God created the earth to be inhabited, and it will be inhabited forever. There will be those who believe from the nations and from the family of Israel. There are those who have believed and there will be still more. Though sadly it seems the majority will be lost, yet that's all the more reason for those of us who have seen and understood to bow down in awe and worship the God who opened our eyes to see. I am privileged, but not because of anything that resides in me. Simply because God chose to open my eyes to see and my ears to hear, and I saw and heard and believed. As discouraging as the numbers of those who do not believe are, there is still some light, there are still some who will believe. And there is still opportunity to lift high the name of Jesus, to exalt and honor Him for His kindness to me, and to see whom He draws to Himself to save. I can't give in to discouragement, but need to keep plugging along. There is hope, if not in souls saved, then in Christ exalted.