Action Stations

Isaiah 1:16-17 (NLT)

Today’s passage is one that has meant a lot to me in my ministry; especially when it comes to defending the cause of orphans. Jesus promised that He would never leave us as orphans (John 14:18) but there are children in the world who do not know about God’s love and that promise from Christ. This verse extends beyond just those who do not know the love of family — and the Lord’s forever family in particular — to the many experiences in which people live. If we read this passage with an open mind, we will see everyone qualifies…ourselves included. Let’s break it down…

> We ALL have sin in our lives.

> We ALL have given ourselves over to evil at some point in our lives.

> We ALL need to learn and strive to do good, because our natural instinct trends toward the opposite.

> We ALL need to help the oppressed as opposed to look the other way out of our own discomfort.

> We ALL must defend the cause of the orphan; sure it tugs at our heartstrings, but what are we really doing about it?

> We ALL might know that widows certainly have a different place in society today than in biblical times, but are we stepping up to fight for those lost in grief? To help those who aren’t capable of tending to even some of life’s most basic needs?

My goodness, just looking at this list feels convicting. We definitely have some work to do when it comes to washing away our bent toward selfishness and learning to live a life of selflessness as asked, and modeled, by Jesus.

What do you need to focus on today? Where will you begin your work? We all must get to our action stations and be about living for God and the people He’s given us to do life with…even those we have yet to meet. So how about it? Are you ready? Let’s gooooooo!