First Monday of Advent

Today's Reading: Isaiah 1:10-20

Key Verse: Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. ~Isaiah 1:18

Frequently when we realize we have wronged someone we try to "make it up" to them. We buy flowers or gifts and try to "work off" our debt. Often we interact with God with the same mind set. "I'll go to church more" or "I'll give more to the poor" or "I'll pray harder and read my Bible every day." What we're doing is trying to appease God, to pay off our debt without necessarily a change in our heart and a change in our actions. This is precisely what the people of Judah were doing - offering sacrifices and having feasts and praying - but they were going through the motions without changing their hearts or the way they conducted their lives. God said he wished they would stop doing those things if they didn't reflect the inner attitude of their hearts and that he wanted them to "remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes...learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause" (Isa 1:16-17). Those things are harder to do than any "religious activity" because they require a heart that has been changed by God. The good news comes in Isaiah 1:18 where God promises that even though we are stained by sin, he can make us white as snow, clean, new, and able to love and serve in a way that is pleasing to him.

Reflect: Thank God for his forgiveness; ask Him to show you those people around you who are in need of compassion and service. Serve them.

Gracious Father, thank you for cleansing me of my sin and making me new. Help me to offer you the love and service that pleases you and make me aware of those who are in need that I may share with them the love you have shown me. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

For Further Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 Luke 20:1-8 Psalm 1