The Return!

The Return!

Isaiah 52:3 AMP

[3] For the Lord says this, “You were sold for nothing and you will be redeemed, but not with money.”

There was a time that Zion was awake and alert, conscious of what God wanted it to do, and was busy at it. There was a time Zion had strength, but something had taken it away. There was a time Jerusalem had beautiful garments, but it had been stripped of those garments. There was a time just anyone or anything, particularly the unclean and the uncircumcised, was permitted to come through the gates of the city that was referred to as HOLY by the Lord. There was a time that Jerusalem was bowed down or laid down in the dust, helpless and unable to stand up. It was in bondage, sold into slavery and by this experience, a lot of reproach was brought to the name of the Lord, because these were His people that he had made very popular by the great things he did for them. How did these people then end up here? 

Unfortunately, a lot had happened to disrupt the initial amazing situation for Israel, and at the heart of these negative changes was sin. Am I asleep at critical junctures of my life, unsure and uncertain of God's expectations and demands from me? Have I become quite complacent about the work of God in my care, content to just do the basic minimum to get by? At the heart of these instructions is the One giving them. I want to know the authority and power of the One who speaks; does he have the capacity to bring to pass what he has instructed? From long use, I have come to know that indeed, God can back up all that He commands. If God commands, it means that what happens thereafter is not a function of the power of the one who obeys, but the clear  function of the capacity of the One who commands and is able to back up what He commands. 

I cannot boast or beat my chest, thinking it had anything to do with me, but by obedience, surrender and cooperation, my life becomes the platform for the display of God's power, grace and mercy. Does this describe me in any way? Sometimes, we think that by compromise or blending in, we are getting an advantage or gaining an upper hand in something; however, for a child of God, this compromise is the shortcut to disaster. Zion was sold, or rather it sold itself for nothing, thinking it was getting something of value. God would now step in and redeem Zion, at a price of course, though not with money. This is the proof of love that cannot be fully explained, that even when I am where I deserve, mercy speaks. This is the message from God for such times as these; am I listening? He wants to do mighty things, but I have to surrender all. Would you? God's time of favour is here.