For thus said the LORD God, the Holy One of Israel,

"In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust is your strength.

But you were unwilling."

Isaiah 30:15, ESV

 

If I write too often on this subject, I hope you will forgive me. Perhaps it's because I am older now and can see the end of my physical days more clearly than when I was younger. Perhaps it is because I have seven grandchildren and I want to leave them a better world than the one they seem to be destined to inherit if something drastic does not change. More than anything, I believe it's because I have been so blessed and realize that we all have an obligation to God to do our part to pass the opportunity to be as blessed on to the next generation.

 

So, here goes.

 

The world we are living in is becoming more and more wicked by the day. Places that were safe and clean just a few years ago are now overcome with crime and filth. It has literally gotten so bad that we have at least one major city that has an app for your phone that tells you where the highest levels of human waste are so that you can walk somewhere else to avoid them. Our political climate has never been so filled with poison. In recent years we have had movies from both ends of this political spectrum with themes of a modern day civil war. It's almost as if they are eager for such a conflict. 

 

There has to be an end to this destructive direction we have been traversing, but what is it? What is the solution to what so clearly ails modern day society? The answer to our current problems is as old as mankind itself, and that answer lies in repentance.

 

We read of it from the passage above penned over 2,700 years ago during Isaiah's time. If you haven't read this book of prophesy recently, I would encourage you to do so. There are parts of Isaiah that are so close to our times that one might think they were reading an article from today's news. They, too, were a society of people who had enjoyed God's blessings for so long that they began to take them for granted. They, too, had begun to sin so greatly that it was affecting every aspect of their lives. And they, too, recognized that they had problems, but were quick to blame the source of these problems on everybody but themselves. 

 

Maybe the only difference between sinful Israel and sinful America is that they had no "apps" to warn them where they shouldn't be stepping.

 

I know, I know, "thanks for the pep talk" you might be thinking, but I do want to point out the solution, and it is the same as it was when God had Isaiah write the warning you read above: It is in returning to God!

 

But God did not have Isaiah stop with that instruction. He also said the people needed to rest! By that, He did not mean that they needed a good night's sleep, but that they needed to cease and desist from their sinful activities that had brought them to that point. They needed to be quiet at least long enough to hear God's warnings, and then trust in Him enough to do what they could and then let God handle the rest.

 

We need that today, don't we? If we would cease from our sin, return to God, be quiet and listen to His words so that we might be guided by His perfect solutions, and then trust Him to keep us safe while we were doing our part, then we would have a chance. We would have a chance to turn this evil world around and get it back on the right track. By doing so, we will then have a chance to leave a world that is worth living in for our children and grandchildren. 

 

But we have to realize that this will not be easy. Just as in Isaiah's time, most will be unwilling to do these things and we need to be wise enough to accept that fact and be determined that we will proceed without them if we have to. Our part has never been to force people to do the right thing, but we are expected to at least say something when we have the opportunity. And since I have the opportunity right now, I will just go ahead and say it:

 

We need to repent!

 

We need to get back to the basics of starting our days with prayer and the reading of God's Word. We need to take the message from His Word and let it guide our actions throughout the day, praying at the same time for the help and wisdom that we need. We need to train up our children to do the same, and after that we need to encourage as many of those who are in our circle of influence to also do the same. The fact is that it is never too soon to return to God and His way, but history has proven that it can be too late. So, let's get started before it really is too late.

 

It will be hard, but the future generation is worth it and we owe it to them to at least try. More importantly, we owe it to God and to Christ. By God's grace we have been given an opportunity to repent and return to His service. We have been justified y the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, so we have also been given the right. Since we have this opportunity and right, why not take it? It begins with returning to God. The only question now is are we willing?