Seek The Lord

SEEK THE LORD

IS 55:1-13

1. GOD’S OFFER OF MERCY.

IS 55:1-3a 1 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. 2 “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance. 3 “Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you.

Humans have a constant craving in their heart for purpose and meaning in their lives. We search for things that will bring us fulfillment. We can choose to try to fill that emptiness with spiritual things or through worldly things.

In vs 1, God reveals His desire for us that we come and receive His mercy and His blessings in life. He loves us and wants us to enjoy eternal life– the blessings of this life and throughout eternity. We cannot buy these things, He freely gives them and they never come with a catch. They are His blessings to us.

In vs 2, God asks us why do we keep trying to find fulfillment in the things of the flesh. Sin/worldly things thrill us for a moment, but never satisfy us and will cost us everything.

In vs 3, God says “Come to Me!” He offers His promise of forgiveness and salvation and life everlasting and His promise is sure and everlasting also.

2. GOD’S CALL FOR REPENTANCE.

Isaiah 55:6-9 6 Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Three Truths from verses 6-9:

(1) God is in control of His offer of Mercy, not you!

IS 55:6 Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.

* A couple of years ago, An item I really wanted came on sale. Unknowingly, I showed up the day after the sale ended and had to pay full price. It didn’t matter what the offer was yesterday, I had waited too late. You see, the store was in complete control of the offer, I just waited too long to receive the blessing offered.

Many want to live their life in sin and put off a relationship with God until some time in the future. Faulty planning. First off, you are not guaranteed another day or another minute. Many plan to get saved at the midnight hour, but unfortunately die at 11:30!

* Secondly, you are not in control of when God will offer you mercy, He is! What makes you think that God is bound to even offer you mercy one time, much less 100 times. God says that the proper time to repent and be saved is when He is near and offering His mercy!

(2) God desires to show mercy and forgiveness to you!

Is 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

His desire is that you repent so He can give you mercy, but He is not some big Grandpa in the Sky that will overlook sin and defiance with a wink and a nod. If you will not repent, He will discipline you. If you won’t repent after disciplining you, He will destroy you. Plain/simple.

(3) God is Holy and Wise and We are not!

Is 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.

One of the best words used to describe God is “holy”. He is unique and set apart from everything else. He alone is holy in and of Himself. We are sinful creatures. Because of this we approach God naturally bent. We think we can be good enough or do enough good deeds so that God will accept us on our terms. God, though, demands that man be perfect and holy to approach Him just as He is perfect and holy.

Because we are imperfect, we need a perfect Savior. When we repent and believe in Christ as our Savior, our sins are forgiven and we are born again. Jesus takes our sin from us and pays the price for them (death) and He transfers His righteousness to us so that we stand before God as though we had never sinned.