Come now, Let us Reason together

Just sitting awhile with God is a very precious Privilege, bought at a very high price.  We didn’t pay the cost, Jesus did.  God knew we couldn’t save ourselves, so He stepped out of Himself, for a time, and into the heart of mankind.  He, coming to earth as an infant, is one of the most treasured, yet confounding truths of the Word of God.  God’s Love for mankind goes beyond the scope of our ability to comprehend, to understand.  It must just be received with an attitude of humility and gratefulness.  God is ever-reaching out to us, His Beloved Creation, His Treasured Ones.  Here is what He says to His people in Isaiah:

“Come now, and let us reason together,”  Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.
¹⁹ “If you consent and obey, You will eat the best of the land;
²⁰ “But if you refuse and rebel, You will be devoured by the sword.”
Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

The word reason in this context means:  to argue, convince, prove to be right; to convict, plead, or decide; to rebuke, reprove or correct.

¹¹ All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.  Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, ¹³ and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. (Hebrews 12)

One of the greatest and most wonderful privileges in belonging to God through Jesus Christ in the privilege of being corrected, guided, and led by the Spirit of God.  Led out of old and harmful ways of thinking, acting and believing; into the Wholesome Truth.  This word “reason” is used 15 times in the book of Job.  No one in all the Bible had more right to consider himself able to argue with God about something than Job.  But God ultimately corrected Job’s Understanding of personal suffering with these words.

Then the Lord said to Job, ² “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
Let him who reproves God answer it.”

³ Then Job answered the Lord and said, ⁴ “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth.⁵ “Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; Even twice, and I will add nothing more.” (Job 40)

When we see deep into the Character of God, His love, His mercy, His genuine concern for the welfare of those He loves, we yield to the Guidance of such a Heavenly Father.  I have been disciplined severely by God in my short lifetime, and I can tell you that God truly disciplines those He loves.  He cares deeply for us, as any good parent would for his/her own child; too deeply to let us wander off into dangerous and destructive decisions.  I am forever grateful for God’s Discipline of Love.  He has rescued me and saved me countless times.  There are sorrows and hardships I have had to endure, but I know there must be countless others that I have been able to avoid because I yielded to God’s voice as He corrected me.  Yield to the Love of God’s Correction.  How happy you will be in the end.  Let me close with this:

⁶⁵ You have dealt well with Your servant,
O Lord, according to Your word.
⁶⁶ Teach me good discernment and knowledge,
For I believe in Your commandments.
⁶⁷ Before I was afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep Your word.
⁶⁸ You are good and do good;
Teach me Your statutes.

( Psalm 119)