January 20
Guilty
“But we are all as an unclean thing.” —Isaiah 64:6
Read Isaiah 64
Our text tells us that we are all unclean. Do you see yourself as a filthy and defiled sinner before God? Do you therefore also agree with our text? Or do you secretly rely on some good works? Maybe you attend catechism classes faithfully. You read your Bible daily, and so think everything is all right. But your neighbour next door, well, that’s a different story. They seldom attend church and therefore, are greater sinners. But what about you and me? Unclean people used to be ejected from the temple service, but this edict does not apply to us anymore.
However, Isaiah was instructed to write the words of our text, and God cannot be mistaken. He tells us that we are all unclean. Do we think that we are wiser than God? How can we think that everything will somehow turn out fine in the end? “We are all as an unclean thing.”
We can try to reject this statement, but that would be the same as denying that we have a deadly disease because we have not experienced our weakness. Also, if a doctor would prescribe a certain medication, it would be foolish of us not to take it. But what do we do with God’s diagnosis, which tells us that we are seriously ill? We are all as an unclean thing and yet we think we are okay. What are we doing with God’s medicine? He offers His Son in His Word as the way to life. Do we reject Him and continue living on foolishly with the thought that nothing is wrong with us? “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (Eph. 5:14).
Why do we not take God’s diagnosis of our life more seriously?
This devotional was taken from “The Time of Your Life” a daily devotional published by the Youth & Educational Committee of the FRC. To order a printed copy of this book, contact: bookorders@frcna.org.