Learning To Do Good

October 13, 2022

Isaiah 1:16 – “Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

The book of Isaiah is all about the prophecies that Isaiah made to the northern kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah. Israel had been in the Promised Land for about 700 years by then.  After 400 years of being ruled by Judges, then 120 years ruled by Saul, David and then Solomon, Israel had a civil war that split into two nations, Israel in the North and Judah in the South until the time of Isaiah.

Isaiah was a great man of God, but Judah had turned against God. Despite their sin, God didn’t wish evil on them. Instead, he longed for them to repent and come back to Him. In today’s verse, God has had enough. The corruption of Judah’s leaders and people was very evident in the way they treated each other. 

God used Isaiah to plead with them to change, and told them that they needed to wash themselves so they were clean and to take their evil deeds out of his sight. Over and over again in the scriptures, God gives people breaks… think of Adam and Eve, of Jonah, of David! They all sinned, but God never turned His back on them.

We all have a sinful nature that doesn’t just go away when Jesus comes into our life. We actually have to fight against it every single day as we strive to become more and more like Jesus. Doing good doesn’t always come naturally either because our sin nature is constantly struggling for control. 

Just like God instructed Israel, we need to LEARN to do good. How do we do that? By being in His word. By knowing the ways that the enemy subtle whispers deception and lies into our thoughts. But, through prayer and worship, we can draw nearer to the heart of God.