Did I mention that I have been in Isaiah for a while during my morning devotions? Such rich insight into the mind and counsel toward the people He loves.
A few days ago Isaiah 55:6-9 began speaking to me. It says:
“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Seek.
Call.
Forsake
Turn.
Go higher.
God is of course speaking to the unrighteous of Israel through the prophet Isaiah, but as I read this passage, those five words kept coming back to me, convicting me that maybe, just maybe, I shouldn’t simply pass over this. And along with them came a very distinct thought that has been reverberating in my head for several days now:
“Forsake your thoughts.”
Even though I am righteous in Christ, my mind still goes in unrighteous directions. An unrighteous direction is pretty much any direction toward earthly things instead of setting my mind on the things that are above, where my life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:2,3). Whether it’s daydreaming, having imaginary arguments with people that aren’t there, or considering what I am going to fritter with next – forsake your thoughts.
Why?
Because setting my mind on the things of God moves me up, above those earthly things. Not with my head in the clouds, but with my heart set on receiving the only kinds of thoughts that are pure, holy, wise, true, good beyond measure, and very practical to boot. The fact that God’s thoughts and ways are higher than mine, makes me want to know them. Even the thimbleful that I can comprehend out of the ocean of thought that exists in His mind.
Knowing that His thoughts are higher drives me to seek Him, to call on HIm, to turn to Him by forsaking unrighteous, earthly thinking, so that my earthly thoughts may be replaced by godly thoughts.
Almost all of what God wants us to know about His thoughts and ways are in Scripture. It’s heavenly stuff put in human terms. For that reason, I am in love with that Book full of books. What I see there is much more than history, information, poetry, rules, and predictions about what is yet to come. I see God pouring out His high thoughts, the thoughts of His heart. I see glimpses of HIs glory.
Consequently, I sell myself short if I don’t put in a hefty amount of my time and effort in engaging with the Word – reading it, pondering it, praying it, praying over it, memorizing it, and obeying it.
Forsake your thoughts.
Any unrighteous, earthly thoughts, no matter how innocent they seem.
Seek His instead, the ones He has given us for the taking and are devoid of any triviality, falsehood, banality, duplicity, or earthliness.
Wouldn’t you rather soar with the eagles of His thoughts than run around with the turkeys in your earthly brain? So then, as you read this and feel stirred, get on your knees and pray what David*, man after God’s own heart, prayed:
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!” (Psalm 119:36)
“Open my eyes, that I may behold beautiful things out of your law.” (Psalm 119:18)
*The author of Psalm 119 is a matter of scholarly speculation. I’m going with the venerable commentator Matthew Henry, who considers them to be “a collection of David’s devout and pious expressions.”