Isaiah 55

6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found;

  call upon him while he is near;

7 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.

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

  neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

  so are my ways higher than your ways

  and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Our time on earth is limited. Turn to God and seek his redemption, which he offers in abundance.

There were two brothers. The older brother resented the younger brother because he was a reckless fool. Partied his life away while the older brother stayed by Dad's side, administering the family business. The younger brother ran into some real trouble with people he'd gotten to know and to trust who were on the wrong side of life. He went back to his dad to bail his sorry life out, to give him a hand. To his brother's astonishment, the father did! What on earth Dad? the older brother protested. He's a sorry mess of a life who's dishonored you and dragged our good name through the mud. And yet you are going to bail him out?

Which son are you in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke. 15)? I'd like to think I'm the older son, until I read it more carefully and put it under the lens of God's Word. Neither son is a great choice because the older son has convinced himself that his actions indicate he is the Father's true son of the inheritance, by birth right and by how he's lived. The younger son is a fool until he awakens to the fact that he's got to return to his father in humility and throw himself at his mercy.

I know for aa fact I am the younger son. I go live my life as I see fit, and when life jumps up and bites me in the solar plexus, I realize how foolish I am and run back to God in a cold sweat. Why does God continue to love a worthless child like me? Don't concern yourself with that, just know he does. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not ours. In a court of law, I'm guilty. In God's eyes, I am a redeemed child. I am redeemed through the blood of the lamb, whom God gave as a peace offering for me. 

That certainly shows us the extent that his thoughts and ways are not ours. He sacrificed his own Son to redeem us.

Pray with me: Gracious God, Heavenly Father, I give thanks that you are the one God, Almighty and Merciful, who gave his only Son to die for me, a sinful human being. Forgive me when I sin, and help me to share this good news of your redemption to others. In Christ's name, Amen.

Hope Men's Ministry is a ministry in service to Hope Lutheran Church and School. Our purpose is to grow, unite, and share God's Word to all men through meaningful activities. These activities center on fellowship, service, conversation, prayer, study and devotion as we seek to become men of God as He created us to be.