September 22 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

Isaiah 64:

¹Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
²As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!
³When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.
⁴For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
⁵Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
⁶But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
⁷And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
⁸But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
⁹Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.
¹⁰Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
¹¹Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.
¹²Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?

Devotional:

Humility before God may be said to be the first step in a right relationship toward Him. As we read this chapter we are awed! In the face of such a God we get a true understanding of our own sin. We get, too, an awareness of the sin that infects the whole of our world.

Is there in our homes an awareness of the Sinless One and an awe before Him? Do we see ourselves as creatures sinful in His sight? How is it that, after we have come to this point in our relationship with God, we dare reach up boldly to Him? We dare because of the amazing concept we see in verse 8: 'Thou art our Father.' Can you follow this? A sin-laden creature ... a holy God ... 'Our Father!'

According to Scripture the answer lies in the grace of this God. It lies in His sending His Son to bear the sins of His people, and in His devising the loving plan by which those who believe in His Son may stand before Him without their sin.

Can our children, as they recognize their own naughtiness or downright defiance and rebellion dare to reach out to us simply because they know what it means that we are their father and mother? Are they learning from us what God wants us to understand when He calls Himself our Father?