Isaiah 57:1-21

Our spiritual walk with God is full of paradoxes.  The way we naturally think about things is rarely the way that things truly are.  Jesus taught us that the greatest will be least and the least will be the greatest.  It is hard for us to grasp the concept that the way to greatness is through service and the way to insignificance is through self-promotion.  Too often we find ourselves running on the treadmill of pride without making any progress whatsoever in our lives.  There is a very high price to pay for such faulty thinking.  God calls us to come before Him with humble hearts so we can enjoy a relationship of worship before Him.

THE WAY TO CALAMITY IS THROUGH IDOLATRY: Idols are like mirages.  They are tricks that we play on our own minds believing that they are real only to be disappointed and disillusioned.  The nation of Israel had been taught not to worship idols and to worship God alone.  God taught them that idols were not real.  Unfortunately, they did not hear the voice of the Lord and decided to chase after the false gods of the people around them.  They built altars in high places, declared themselves to be priests to their own make believe gods, cut themselves and even sacrificed their own children in order to try to please and appease these non-existent gods.  All of the pain and suffering was worth absolutely nothing and left them condemned before the only true God.  What a calamity to come to the end of one’s life only to realize that all of life’s efforts and sacrifices to idols were vain. 


THE WAY TO ETERNITY IS THROUGH HUMILITY: God is looking for worshipers who have a humble and contrite heart.  He does not call us to mutilate our bodies or slaughter our children in order to please Him.  He simply wants us to come before Him in recognition of our needs and submission to His will.  God is ready to forgive the sins of those who repent before Him.  He is faithful to discipline us when we stray from Him so we will be humbled before Him and find restoration with Him.  He has promised eternal rewards in His presence for those who will recognize their sin, bow before Him in humble submission and worship.  God offers us peace and comfort for simply trusting Him.  We must stop promoting ourselves and worshiping idols of our own imaginations so we can experience His eternal rewards through a life of humility and faith.

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