Verse:
Isaiah 64:6 says, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”
Reading:
Let’s spend a little more time on the predicament that we are in with God. In the last devotional, scripture was clear that we are in the wrong. We were tossed out and we are exiled from God’s perfect presence because of our disobedient heart.
Many of the popular world religions and philosophies don’t like to share the last devotional’s hard truth. This one right here isn’t much different. The other religions will tell you that you are mostly okay, and that you can break through and earn your way to a better reputation with God. With weights and balances, your good deeds will be weighed with the bad, and you will pass on to a better afterlife based on the results. However, our God doesn’t see it that way.
If you have played baseball on a dirt field, you can relate to this. When those brand-new baseball pants hit the dirt sliding into second for the first time, it is just about impossible to make them the way they once were – especially on red clay infields. We should say that you could never make them brand new again. They will have to be washed and your mom will have to perform a miracle to them to get them white. However, even if she does do well to get them back to looking white again, on a microscopic level, fibers have been torn in those pants. They are now imperfect!
Some coaches at the college level expect their team to shine their shoes before every game – expecting them to be nice before they step on the field again. God is like the coach that inspects his players’ shoes – except he sees every flaw. Throughout time, he has seen every man’s flaw that has ever walked the earth. He sees yours too. You are dirty and you cannot become clean on your own – especially with your works as much as you scrub and scrub!
Since you have been born into humanity, into this world, and into the dirt and grime, you are incapable to make yourself clean and perfect again. If God brought out the microscope into your life, no amount of washing and bleach would clean you up. In the same way, your good works are like filthy rags to God, like Isaiah 64:6 says.
Then you may ask the same question a man asked in Acts 16:30, “What must I do to be saved?” or in another way, “How can I get clean?” Trust us - we’re getting there!
Prayer Prompt:
Lord God, even more-so, I see the desperate state that I am in. I am far from perfect. I am stained with sin in this broken world. My heart is dirty and can’t become clean with my good works. I can’t earn favor with you because you want perfection. Let me see even more clearly how filthy I am in comparison to you, and that my good works can’t cover me. Help me to see you clearly and myself clearly. Let me see you as a God that sees every detail of my life and heart, and let me acknowledge myself as a man in need of something outside of myself for healing. Lord, help me!
Reflection Questions:
What things separate you from being perfect by God’s standards?
What do you think is the answer to your sin?
Response:
Revelation 2:1 says, “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” Begin to think about the spiritual implications of this verse. Talk to someone about your spiritual condition.