I was recently reading Isaiah 1:1-31 and was intrigued by two verses: Isaiah 1:16-17. My wife, Jenny, actually brought them to my attention and as I read them and studied them, I started to hear what God was saying to me. I believe these two verses contain important insights for successful Christian living. In this chapter of Isaiah, Israel had fallen away from God. They had forgotten who their true master was. God was using the prophet Isaiah to tell Israel to return to Him. Are there areas on our lives we have turned away from God? Have we in some way not allowed God to truly be our master? One of my favorite parts of this chapter is verse 18, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…” God doesn’t leave His people, He gives them hope. And through Jesus Christ, He gives us hope that our sins are washed away and we can be completely free of them. 

I took a look at several different versions of the bible and for the sake of our human attention span (and limited memory capacity in this busy world), I boiled Isaiah 1:16-17 down to 5 statements that I believe are keys to Christian living: 

  1. Learn To Do GoodKeys
  2. Seek Justice
  3. Stand For Freedom
  4. Defend The Fatherless
  5. Plead For The Widow

I love how these five points from Isaiah paint a picture of how God wants His people to act. I believe these are noteworthy because God sees fit to include the idea again, in the New Testament, giving particular emphasis to the last two on this list. In James 1:27 God tells us through His bond-servant James that, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” Living successfully here on Earth, as Christians, is not a difficult thing to understand. The truth is clearly laid out before us in the Bible.

As worshipers, looking at God’s truth and allowing His spirit to help us live it out is vital to leading others not only in worship but as real life examples of Jesus Christ and His amazing love. I want to leave you with an excerpt from Matthew Henry’s commentary on James 1:26-27. I believe he articulates this concept very eloquently:

“When men take more pains to seem religious than really to be so, it is a sign their religion is in vain. The not bridling the tongue, readiness to speak of the faults of others, or to lessen their wisdom and piety, are signs of a vain religion. The man who has a slandering tongue, cannot have a truly humble, gracious heart. False religious may be known by their impurity and uncharitableness. True religion teaches us to do every thing as in the presence of God. An unspotted life must go with unfeigned love and charity. Our true religion is equal to the measure in which these things have place in our hearts and conduct. And let us remember, that nothing avails in Christ Jesus, but faith that worketh by love, purifies the heart, subdues carnal lusts, and obeys God’s commands.”

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