Devotions: The Key to an Answer

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,

Isaiah 58:9 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

In Isaiah’s day, the people were very religious, but it was superficial. They were just going through the motions expecting to get God’s blessing because of their rituals regardless of their lifestyles. They were greedy, selfish, arrogant, even cruel, yet they thought that God would overlook those issues which they condoned and even praised simply because they followed the religious customs and ceremonies. The point God is making in this verse is that He was not answering them because they weren’t really seeking Him, they just wanted what He could give them. They wanted the prize without running the race. The yoke He refers to is the empty religious ceremonies the priests required the people to follow (but didn’t hold to themselves). It was the bondage of a works based religion, trying to earn God’s approval. They lived by a double standard, expecting God to bless them because of their religious ceremonies while they blatantly ignored God’s commands. They were hypocrites. That is why God did not answer them. He was calling them to turn in repentance, to turn away from their sin back to God, to a true faith that focused on God and not ritual. They were also judgmental and slanderous, lacking compassion and ungenerous. If they corrected those things, if they desired to have hearts like God’s, then He would hear and answer them. Our sin separates us from God and hinders our prayers. What sin are you ignoring in your life? What wrong lifestyle do you condone or excuse? Ask God to examine your heart, to show you what you need to change, and allow Him to change you.  HimH

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