In His transforming hands

We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins. Isaiah 64:6-7

From the text, Isaiah expressed the human depravity because of sin. We were born spiritually dead and contaminated by sin from our mother's womb. We have the roots of wickedness deep within us; every one of us including children. "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me" (Psalm 51:5). Paul admits the same: ““No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one” (Romans 3:10-12). With this unregenerate heart, how could God possibly give His Son to die on the cross? How could God include us on the list of the Savior after we came to know Him and surrendered our life and made Him our Lord? It is by His grace; “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God” (Ephesians 2:8). Isaiah acknowledged man’s depravity and this was the reason why he sought to be in God’s presence. “Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down! (Isaiah 64:1). He was longing for God to intervene so that people would come to their senses and tremble before Him. It was not a wishful thinking but a passionate plea offered in his prayer. Each day that we live on this earth, we are moving into the future. We are not writing our lives on a blank page. Even at our best moments, when we do what’s right, we’re not as good as we look; “When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.” Our vitality fades away “Like autumn leaves.” Our strength is easily depleted. Because of these realities, just like Isaiah, we have to seek in prayer God’s working within. We need to be delivered from ourselves and sin and not continually offend the One who is our Hope. Let us pray that God will be glorified and ask Him to continually transform us to be the person He wants us to be. “O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand” (Isaiah 64:8).

Blessings,

Noel De Guzman

www.my-wbc.com