List everything Isaiah 55:1-9 teaches us about God.
– “God satisfies spiritual hunger and thirst.
– “God gives generously and freely.
– “He makes everlasting covenants.
– “He puts leaders in power.
– “He ordains futures.
– “He endows with splendor.
– “He is available and eager to hear from us.
– “He calls the unsaved to repentance and has mercy and grace for all.
– “His ways are different from ours.”
What should those who are spiritually thirsty and hungry do (Isaiah 55:6)?
“Seek the Lord – call on Him.”
One of the most common and overt human experiences is the inability, to be completely satisfied.
Christians can be miserably dissatisfied if they accept Christ’s salvation yet reject the fullness of daily relationship that satisfies.
“2/20/14 Ashley says, ‘if you stop going to church it’s like stopping breathing.’ (Kerstin can’t figure out what she should give up – her biggest time luxury is her church time.)”
Has dissatisfaction ever lead you to discover Christ in a new and satisfying way?
“Not that I can recall.”
In retrospect, can you think of a time when God was trying to lead you to find fullness in him but you settled for something less?
“Yes, but not one specific example, just lots of little choices.”
Realizing God desires for us to find genuine satisfaction in Him helps us discover the third primary obstacle on our road to freedom: settling for satisfaction with anything else. God gave this practice a name I was unprepared to hear: idolatry.
What signs of idolatry did Isaiah see in the people (Isaiah 2:8)?
“The people bowed down to the man-made idols with which they had filled their land.”
How do you think we can figuratively bow down to the work of our hands?
“Personally, my favorite way to spend my ‘free’ time is progressing the lives of virtual people in the virtual world I’ve created for them.”
How do our idols, substitutes for God, ultimately bring shame?
“When we really take an objective look at our pet time-wasters, it is embarrassing to think of all the useful things we could have accomplished.”
People can become so engrossed in their idols, that they no longer pay attention to their physical needs (Isaiah 44:12). What idols could displace common sense regarding physical health?
“For some, drugs and alcohol can easily take priority over, eating, sleeping, bathing, etc. For me, I figure if I’m having too much fun to remember to eat lunch, I probably didn’t need it that much anyway; however, my worst mistake is choosing playing over sleeping. I’m trying to break that pattern and choose sleep.”
Read Isaiah 44:21 carefully. Why do you think God wants Israel to remember these things?
“At this time they haven’t gone into captivity yet. Soon they will need this reminder and reassurance of God’s love and concern for them.”
Our craving to be filled is so strong that the moment something or someone seems to meet our need, we feel an overwhelming temptation to worship it.
What about you? Does Isaiah 44:20 cause any kind of strong response in you?
“2/20/14 – yes. These days I rarely play Sims, but I have several favorite apps, and my iPad is practically an extension of my right hand.”
Dearest Rachel –
Idolatry.
It’s such a peculiar word in our modern ears. It conjures up images of primitive stone, or at best, bronze-age ‘civilizations’ creating a giant statue and bowing down to it, as if some inanimate object which some craftsman had carved or built could actually do something that was not only as much as, but far more than, the craftsman himself could accomplish. It strikes us ‘moderns’ as utterly absurd.
Then again, certain physical idols have a decided… shape… to them. One might be able to conceive that God spoke completely literally when He referred to the Israelites as “prostituting themselves” to certain idols. It’s not like similar objets de passion don’t exist in the modern day, allowing us to relate to the concept a little closer, albeit with a slight side eye, as we wouldn’t consider their use as a form of worship.
On the other hand… there’s always the more metaphorical concept of infidelity, where one can consider putting anything before God as a form of idolatry. But what does that look like? I used to spend eight to ten hours a day at a job, far and away more than I ever did in any form of worship or service – did that mean I worshipped a job that, in the final analysis, I hated? Or was it that I worshipped the money (and perhaps the benefits) that came as part of it, and which locked me in (or so I thought) to that job until we gained access to other sources of liquidity? I really can’t say.
I know your comments refer to the time spent in more ‘fun’ pursuits rather than worship and service – to the point where you neglected sleep in order to enjoy them just that little bit more time. On the other hand, in retrospect, you didn’t have enough time to cram all the enjoyment you wanted in your life. I’m not about to say you were justified – none of us is, without God – but from a purely human perspective, it might be considered understandable.
But there’s something to be said about applying our time to our pursuits, and how that is the modern analogy to sacrificing grain or cows upon an altar to honor and appease our gods. We only have so much of it, and we give it over so freely to things and activities that, ultimately, don’t mean that much in the end.
Is the enjoyment we had in that moment worth the sacrifice of our time, and is that a form of worship that would anger and disappoint God? I really don’t know. I’m dedicating time and effort to writing you every day – that may be a form of worship dedicated to you. At the same time (and by contrast) I’m spending time looking for Megumi – is she, assuming she even exists, which is another question entirely – an idol to me? And then, there all the other things that I’m doing that I’ve told you about (and some that I haven’t gotten around to doing so) – do they count, and do they count against me?
It’s wild to think that, at this point, you probably have the answers, but from where you are, you’re not able to reveal them to me – or anyone else – where we could benefit from that insight, and adjust our lives accordingly. Then again, maybe we’re no better than the rich man’s brothers, who would not listen even in Lazarus were to rise from the dead and reveal all the answers of the universe to us.
So with that in mind, honey, just keep an eye on us all, and wish us luck. We’re going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 