This morning in my quiet time I was studying Isaiah 57. I came across a section of the passage which didn't seem to fit with the rest. I turned to a commentary for assistance on the passage. Although I didn't receive the help that I needed, I found the following:
"Peace is not within us. We are by nature restless -- never satisfied, never content, never grateful, never relaxed, like the tossing sea. It's because we're wicked. Chuck Colson writes of a despairing young woman, exhausted in an endless round of parties. When a psychologist suggested that she stop, she said, 'You mean I don't have to do what I want to do?' Our peace is our drivenness. We need a Savior. And Christ doesn't just confront our wickedness -- he forgives us. He opens the way to come back. He visits the lowly with reviving life. He says to us all:
'Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will fine rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.' (Mt. 11:28-30)
Can anyone else say that to us?"
Raymond Ortlund, Isaiah - God Saves Sinners, pg.384
What a great reminder that the Lord Jesus is our peace and that apart from Him there is no peace. In thinking on this topic, I was reminded of a hymn that I have sadly only recently learned (I wish that I had learned this as a youth! But, God's timing is absolutely perfect). Horatius Bonar penned these words in the mid-1800s (part of the hymn, "Not What My Hands Have Done"). How wonderful they are:
Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.
Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord, to Thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest, And set my spirit free.
Look to the Lord, all the earth. Look to Him and find your only Rest.
Monday, August 19, 2013
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