Turn Or Burn
Opening Prayer
Lord, come to me now. Speak to my heart: convict, guide, redirect, restore, renew.
Read Isaiah 9:18 – 10:4
18 Surely wickedness burns like a fire;
it consumes briers and thorns,
it sets the forest thickets ablaze,
so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.
19 By the wrath of the Lord Almighty
the land will be scorched
and the people will be fuel for the fire;
they will not spare one another.
20 On the right they will devour,
but still be hungry;
on the left they will eat,
but not be satisfied.
Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring:
21 Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh;
together they will turn against Judah.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.
10 Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
2 to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless.
3 What will you do on the day of reckoning,
when disaster comes from afar?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your riches?
4 Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives
or fall among the slain.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
If you have been troubled by the ugliness of ungodliness – in your life or the lives of those you know– ask God to take care of it.In the baking Australian summers, a bushfire can rage through vast tracts of land. Flames leap from the crown of one gum tree to another, even across rivers and highways. The eucalyptus oil in their leaves spontaneously ignites in the fierce heat radiating from the blaze. It is an apocalyptic sight and no human is fast enough to outrun it.
Sin isn’t “harmless fun.” It leaps from life to life, burning everything noble and beautiful in its path (9:18). We see this in brutal oppression, injustice, neglect of the vulnerable (10:1,2), and those crimes that turn our stomachs, like pedophilia and murder.
We may prefer to think more about God’s love than his anger, but when confronted by sin that destroys lives what could be more comforting than to know that God’s wrath burns even hotter than sin (9:19)? He will not leave wickedness to go on forever. The “day of reckoning” is coming (10:3).
Israel’s wickedness was met by an Assyrian invasion (3,4). Our wickedness is dealt with by the death of Jesus. We can be set free to live a repentant, godly life.
Apply
If you know someone who needs forgiveness, pray that they will turn to him while there is still time.
Closing prayer
If you have sinned, ask God to forgive you in Jesus’ name.
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