By Glenn Metts
Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church, Seymour
Focal Passage: Isaiah 46:3-13
Our lesson this week is a clear reminder of God’s heart and plan to save. He is a God of action and undeterred passion to bring salvation to anyone who will respond.
Isaiah’s message to a hard-hearted people was one of God’s faithfulness and trustworthiness to them. He is a God who comes to us. He is a God who is not deterred by our sin and makes sinners His mission. Jesus said, “… for the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
There are several lessons from Isaiah 46:3-13 that we don’t want to miss. One, we need to remember who God is and what He has done for us. Verse 9 says, “Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.”
I remember going to Thailand on a mission trip a year after the tsunami that struck in 2004. One day we went to help a family do some repair work and paint their home that had been impacted by the flood of water. I was assigned a room where there was a table with wooden statues and idols. The family we were ministering to were Buddhists.
As I painted the walls, I couldn’t help but think how cold, dead and empty those idols were. I began to recount how God has shown Himself throughout history to be the omnipotent, omniscient, and loving God who has revealed Himself in creation, the prophets, His Word and ultimately through the living Word, His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus. It was our joy to tell that family of a God in heaven that loved them and sent His only Son to save us from our sin.
The second lesson we don’t want to miss is that we need to take this message to heart. Verse 8 reminds us to “… take it to heart, you transgressors!” God acts to complete His plan to bring salvation to His people.
As a follower of Jesus, we should be aware of the fact that God is at work all around us. His mission is still the same. God’s heart beats for the lost and those who are far from Him.
Jesus said that He had to be about the Father’s business. In John 9:4, Jesus said, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” God still acts on behalf of His people. He’s still working to save the lost. I love what the Lord said in Isaiah 46:10, where He says, “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do My pleasure… ’ ” God will accomplish His plan and fulfill His Word!
The greatest difference between the idols and gods of this world and our God is that the gods of this world will never accomplish anything for us.
Our God did for us what we cannot do. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17). Dear believer, we can be confident that God is on His throne and He is still at work all around us.
Be encouraged that He will fulfill every promise and His plan in these days we live in. Let’s pray without ceasing as Paul admonished us in I Thessalonians 5:17. He also admonished them to rejoice always and give thanks because this was God’s will for them in Christ Jesus. He admonished them not to quench the Spirit, to test all things and hold fast to what is good.
Dear child of God, let’s put our eyes on the Lord in these days and see where we can join Him in reaching our world for Christ. Our God is still working! B&R