 | Isaiah 1:16 "Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;"
We have already looked at the truth that working without washing does not please God. Just like you and I would not want to eat food served by dirty hands, the Lord is not interested in our work without washing. In fact, the Lord compared Judah to rebellious children who were "biting the hand the feeds them," to a vacant shack, and to an unfaithful spouse. God is serious about this problem of working without washing, evidenced by His calling their work "vain" and an "abomination." He even says in verse 14 that He hates their work and is "weary to bear them"!
But what are we to do? The wonderful truth of part 2 is that God says, "Wash you, make you clean. . . ." There is hope; there is an answer! God wants our service; but before that, He wants us to be clean. If you find yourself in the same place as Judah in Isaiah 1, the call of God is still the same: "Wash you, make you clean."
God's people were hard workers. Now, being a hard worker is not a bad thing; but just working hard whenever you have dirty hands is not good. "Wash up" before returning to work, and then determine, by God's grace, to work hard at what He has given you to do.
Verse 26 is wonderfully encouraging. God is speaking, and He says, "And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellers as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city." These folks were much like an unfaithful spouse in verse 21, but God says that He will "restore" and that they will be called "faithful."
Before leaving Isaiah chapter 1, consider your own life before a Holy God. Are you working without having washed? If so, the call goes out to you this morning, "Wash you, make you clean." May God help us to not be hard workers with dirty hands, but may we be clean and hard-working children of God who He can call "faithful."
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