Verse of the Day Devotion: Isaiah 55:6

“Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.” – Isaiah 55:6  

As I look at all that is going on today, it makes me think that our time here on earth is drawing to a close.  What with some leaders not desiring to open churches again for meetings, yet many others such as stores, and other businesses are encouraged to get back to normal.  In fact, I was reading where one governor says we should wait a year to open churches.  There are many who take a terribly negative view of Christianity while accepting the ideas of most other religions. 

Because of this, we should work even harder to spread the word of His coming.  “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”  Mark 16:15.  This is our calling, and we must take advantage of all opportunities we have to tell others of what Christ did for us.  For there will come a time when He will not be found.  And not only tell them but show them through our lives of obedience.  Many people are told the truth, but when they see the life of the one who told them, that it does not line up with their words, they struggle to accept it. 

According to our focus verse, we are called to go out and tell the world to reach out to Him while He may be found.  There is an old skit by the Christian comedy group Isaac Air Freight about someone who desired to continue living a worldly life until the last minute, then he would accept Christ.  Unfortunately for him, his time came sooner than expected. However, there are many who have chosen to do the same.  And we must reach out and tell them they must seek Him now, not waiting until a later time.

The next verse tells us what He desires us to do when seeking Him.  “Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”  Isaiah 55:7.  We are called to forsake all wickedness and unrighteousness.  Whether in our deeds or our thoughts and desires, we must give them up.  Now, we may at times fall into some of these again, and we will need to repent and ask forgiveness. But it should never become a lifestyle where we go back to our old and wicked ways.  And when we forsake our old sinful ways and seek Him, He will have compassion on us and pardon us, through the shed blood of Christ. 

In closing, I believe there are two groups of people Isaiah is speaking about.  The first are those who do not believe and therefore are not saved, and the second are those who think they are saved but continue living as the world.  I want to encourage us to reach out to both when we, as Jesus said, go out into all the world.  There are some churches that do not teach the whole truth, and those under them may need to understand that there is more than what they are being taught.  This moves from evangelism to discipleship, and both are needed in this climate we live in today.  All must seek the Lord while He may be found, all must call on Him while He is near.  This should be a part of our truly devoted lifestyle we live with our loving and gracious God.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.