"Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, 'I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand, And your offspring like its grains; Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence'" Isaiah 48:17-19.
No one lives life regret-free. Each of us can recount plenty of missteps, mistakes, and poor decisions. Often, we would have to admit, pride and a stubborn streak were contributing factors. We might have been given good advice, but we chose otherwise. The nagging message of regret playing in our mind was, "If only I had listened."
Our Father offered, as Isaiah says, the profitable way. But, His covenant people had chosen as they saw best, to their detriment and destruction. The consequences were captivity and exile in a harsh foreign land. "If only you had paid attention to My commandments!"
We are not promised an easy way, but rather obedience to our Father does result in the profitable way. Lest we misunderstand, "profitable" does not necessarily equate to financial affluence, but that of well-being "like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea." These are blessings beyond measure, financially or otherwise.
I'm sure none of us want this day to be an "if only ..." day: if only I had heeded my Father's direction and promptings. How much better that we should faithfully follow and testify that our well being is like a river, and our "righteousness like the waves of the sea."
May you experience the Father's well-being and righteousness in abundance, through Jesus Christ.
©Steve Taylor, 2022 --Used by permission
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