Isaiah 55:7

"Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon."

Isaiah 55:7

I haven't preached in a while. Today as I was reading my devotions, I was to read Psalm 55. I flipped into the center of my Bible, adjusted a few sections back to the left and there I was Psalm 55. I read through the first few verses stopping at the end of each one, and thought about what the Word was saying to me. Verse seven I rad a few times, I actually have it previously highlighted. At the end of verse eight I realized that I was in fact reading Isaiah 55. I will tell you that when I flipped through my Bible I was convinced that I was in Psalms, so taking a hint we come to this verse today for the Blog.

Who are the wicked? I know, it is the other guy, your neighbor who has never said hello to you. The guy at work that just gets away with evrything, no matter what. Your buddy at the bar who just absolutely crazy when he has had a few. How about the evil man, evil is such a harsh word, especially when used against another, but do you know any evil people? I was evil! I hated people, I hated myself most of the time and when you added alcohol to that hatred I became evil. So bad sometime that I would stop caring for the things even closest to me. So evil that my pride came before even the well being of my children and wife.

Guess what? There is a strong possibility that some that may be reading this are also wicked and evil. I will tell you that if you have no faith that there is one true God then you are in this catagory. What? How could I make such a statement? Simple, without God, you have no moral compass. you are at the whim of what society sets as right and wrong and at a bare minimum your own idea of what is right and wrong. That is the same place that a petifile may sit! I know drastic but true. He very well could hang out with other people (society) that accepts his behavior and in turn his own sense of right and wrong tells him it is ok. Same as when I went to strip clubs with the guys or got so mad because I felt disrepected that I would yell and scream at my young children.

Believers in God, have at least a little advantage over the world that does not. If you accept that God exists and that He has created this world, at least you have placed something in your life that will give you a moral compass of some sort. You still have that free will that you use as an excuse to stay on the wide path but at least you have something to keep you on a path. The good part about this is that many of the Laws, at least in America are based in Constitution which in turn was based on Biblical truths. I know, you are probably just now thinking "wide Path" thoughts of why I would say Biblical. That would bring you from just believing in God to knowing the Word of God abnd that bothers the wide path a bit.

See the "wide path" can be very broad. This is where the moral majority sits in most societies. Somewhere between absolute death and evil and freedom and eternal life. This is where people can keep them selves in check for the most part and because they have some sembalance of God they don't committ or become absolutely evil. See, we all have an inherant knowledge of God,some flat out deny it, others accept but still allow themselves to live in the world just enough that satan does not worry. That they feel that heaven is at hand, but their independance will keep them in death. The wide path, is easy, but it leads no where.

For those that beleieve in God, and the Bible as the the Word of God you have come to the narrow path. Those that are dead, or on the wide path, I probably just lost you and you may even be cursing me in my pushing the Bible on you. You may also be saying that "there are many evil people that say they are Christians". Oh you are correct in that, but are they truly Christians? I am far from perfect, I actually don't like the fact that Christians can sometimes act perfect in public and think that we should all be perfect. Won't happen until my eyes are looking upon heaven. But what I do know that the Bible, is the word of God, given to us through man, His creation, and through that word we can have a closer relationship with God.

What that means is that the inherant knowledge of God, and the acceptance of who He is begins to form the moral absolutes into our living behavior and actions. We no longer just accept the things that are wicked and evil as a slip or something that happens. We see the world for what it is and how the truths of the Bible come to life in this world. You see the little idols that rob joy and peace from our lives. You see how pornagraphy robs you of the true love that God has given you with your spouse. You see how what the world may accept as ok, in reality keeps you away from the intimate relationship with God, they way the Creator had intended it.

If you accept the Word of God, and you seek that as it is truth, then you will be on the Narrow Path. That narrow path is the saving faith in Jesus Christ and the victorious work that was completed on the Cross. You will have know choice if you honestly listen tpo the voice that will draw you near. You will have no choice but to have change in your life, to begin to walk in the ways of the Lord. Se see how the things that everyone else finds important are simply weak subsituations for the Glory of God. You will come to the small gate from the narrow path, and your choices will become clear.

When you walk through that gate, you will never walk alone. Your wickedness and the evil that rears it head in you will be measured against Jesus Christ. You will walk in the continued Mercy of the Lord and recieve Gods grace unconditionally as you walk. Unconditional love for His own child will be with you as you move to fellowship with Him. You may stumble but you will always have His hand to lift you up. You will fight against your old nature but have the eternal draw to your new. Your life will have the meaning that is truly missing in the way you walk now.

Who are you? How good are you, really? Whom shall descide, your nieghbor or your god, or the one true God who revealed Himself and what we should be in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord, convict each that has read this far with who they are. Let them see their lives and their sin. Let them feel the wickedness and evil that they must fight against and where it comes from. Bring to each the knowledge that they need to recieve the mercy and grace that you offer all. Amen