“I, the LORD, made you, and I will not forget you. I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.” (Isaiah 44:21b-22)
I don’t know about you, but reading a passage like this one, I am reminded that I am so far from the mark of living a life that mirrors my Saviors! I cannot remember things that I desire to remember. However, on the flip side, I seem to be able to remember offenses pretty well. I struggle to let them go at times.
God does not. He takes my sins and sweeps them away just like He sweeps the clouds throughout the sky. At great cost to Himself, and with very little expectation from me (simply returning to Him, admitting my sin and asking for forgiveness), I am set free from it all. The price has been paid in full.
The process was prophesied about by Isaiah hundreds of years before Christ showed up to walk among us. “He was despised and rejected.” “We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.” (Isaiah 53:3-4) “He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.” (v. 5) “The LORD laid on him the sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.”(v. 6-7) “Unjustly condemned, he was led away.” “He was struck down for the rebellion of my people.”(v. 8) “He was buried like a criminal.” (v. 9)
The cost was great – yet Jesus gladly paid it. And because Jesus did – because he followed the plan of the Father, a way was made possible for many to be counted as righteous. Praise God that we have a way to be counted as righteous! Friend, truly, there was no other way. God cannot be in the presence of sin, and we do not seem to be able to live without committing it!
We no longer need to live in sin and shame. Jesus paid the price to set us free!
What do I do with this information? Shouldn’t there be some “price” for me to pay? God desires that we remember who He is and what He has done. God is not “a god,” He is the One and only God.
“For there is no other God but me, a righteous God and Savior. There is none but me. Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other. I have sworn by my own name; I have spoken the truth, and I will never go back on my word: Every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to me.” (Isaiah 45:21b-23)
I believe that God deserves our praise. I believe that God deserves our worship. But not only that, I believe God deserves our hearts. We were made to belong to Him – to be with Him. He has provided for our greatest needs. His love for us was the foundation that led to His sacrifice for us.
LORD, help us to remember that our freedom came at a great cost to you. Help us not to ever take your sacrifice for granted. Instead, LORD, may we be filled with praise and thankfulness. May we live lives that bring you praise and honor. LORD, we desire to live for you and with you. We ask that you would open our ears to hear your voice. We ask that you would give us the discernment we need to follow your leading. We love you. Now expand our love for you, daily. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Blessings!