Isaiah 1

The book of Isaiah has been interesting to me for a long time now. I don't think I've studied it enough yet. Like several of the other prophets, it outlines the story -- oh, the wonderful story! -- of God's dealings with man through history, and looks forward to the fulfillments of promises in His wonderful plan.

Here's a snippet from Isaiah chapter 1 that I just love. It shows so much of God's heart. These are God's words -- imagine God saying this with perfect expression of His ultimate holiness and disgust, but also immense love and longing.

"Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand."

For a little turn of topic, God has been teaching me a lot about perspective. One might call it worldview, or a way of thinking. On Sunday I listened to two sermons by Paul Washer. He is so powerful because he has such a radically different -- and more correct -- worldview than I do. No matter what he talks about, it is powerful because the way he sees things is so powerfully right. His view of God is so strongly God-centered that everything he says probably could be traced back to his understanding of God.

I want to have a right view of God, and a strong passion for Who God Is. I want to see things in the Bible the way the Bible teaches them, the way Jesus taught them, the way they are -- not hindered by how I've been taught to interpret certain things in the Bible. I'm beginning to realize that even my objective thinking is so warped by my post-modern culture. The way I think and the conclusions I come up with are always subject to further interpretation or others' opinions -- but when it comes to God's Word, there is NO further interpretation! To have a right view of God, I need to read my Bible more -- to soak it in, to think God's thoughts on the pages. O God help me! I'm such a failure at these things -- transform my mind, my physical mind, so I will do what I resolve!