April 30 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

Throughout both the Old and New Testament we find words and phrases that exhibit God’s great love and mercy. “Come now,” is one of those phrases; it speaks of the love of God that seeks reconciliation through atonement. God in sovereign mercy comes to redeem and deliver His people. The Lord God of heaven and earth says to His rebellious children, “Come!” He does not want us to drag our feet or wait a moment longer. He says, “Come now!” The Lord does not want us walking in the ways of our own sinful heart. He says, “Let us reason together.” Don’t circumvent the issues but judge and examine them honestly and fairly.

What an astonishing and most marvellous display of covenant love! The Lord, who has the whole universe before Him to govern, rule and maintain, takes the time to speak to us sinful creatures. He does not say, “Go away and make sure you never come into My presence again!” Instead He reaches out: “Come now! Let us reason together.” It would be blind ignorance if we did not pay attention to what the Lord in His sovereign mercy is saying to His people. The Lord God Almighty says, “Let’s speak about this in a reasonable manner. Is this how we should be living together? Understand the depth of your transgressions. You deserve condemnation because you are going through the motions of worship. Your heart is not with me.” The Lord does not rebuke His children to humiliate them or to make them feel extremely foolish but in order that they should come to see how far they have deviated from His ways.

A close examination of our lives uncovers a mountain of sin! Our sins are like scarlet and they are red like crimson. But who is encouraging us to come near? Thankfully it isn’t some fellow human being who is saying, “Come let us examine the situation together.” The living God, our heavenly Father, calls us to come! The One who made us has the power to remove our sins from us. The Lord wants us to be completely convinced of how desperate our situation would be if He did not intervene. At the same time, God allows us to hear of His gracious provision and mercy. “Come now, and let us reason together …though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”