“Behold Your God!”
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thee, that I cut thee not off.” “For Mine own sake, even for Mine own
sake, will I do it: for how should My name be polluted? and I will not
give My glory unto another.”
Isaiah 48:9, 11
.
The call to repentance was sounded with unmistakable clearness,
and all were invited to return. “Seek ye the Lord while He may be
found,” the prophet pleaded; “call ye upon Him while He is near: let
the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and
let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to
our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 55:6, 7
.
Have you, reader, chosen your own way? Have you wandered far
from God? Have you sought to feast upon the fruits of transgression,
only to find them turn to ashes upon your lips? And now, your life
plans thwarted and your hopes dead, do you sit alone and desolate?
That voice which has long been speaking to your heart, but to which
you would not listen, comes to you distinct and clear, “Arise ye, and
depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy
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you, even with a sore destruction.”
Micah 2:10
. Return to your Father’s
house. He invites you, saying, “Return unto Me; for I have redeemed
thee.” “Come unto Me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make
an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.”
Isaiah 44:22
;
55:3
.
Do not listen to the enemy’s suggestion to stay away from Christ
until you have made yourself better, until you are good enough to come
to God. If you wait until then you will never come. When Satan points
to your filthy garments, repeat the promise of the Saviour, “Him that
cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”
John 6:37
. Tell the enemy
that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. Make the prayer of
David your own: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash
me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”
Psalm 51:7
.
The exhortations of the prophet to Judah to behold the living God,
and to accept His gracious offers, were not in vain. There were some
who gave earnest heed, and who turned from their idols to the worship
of Jehovah. They learned to see in their Maker love and mercy and
tender compassion. And in the dark days that were to come in the
history of Judah, when only a remnant were to be left in the land, the
prophet’s words were to continue bearing fruit in decided reformation.
“At that day,” declared Isaiah, “shall a man look to his Maker, and his
eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. And he shall not look