Freedom is Good News Part 58
/A short time ago I was reading from the book of Isaiah and came upon a scripture that caught my eye. Isaiah 51:1-2 says, “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD: look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were dug; look to Abraham, your father and to Sarah, who gave you birth.” There is a lot here to catch one’s eye and so perhaps we can spend some time considering this scripture.
The first word is quite important. God is speaking and He says “listen to me”. Perhaps every time we see these words in scripture we should sit back and ponder what God has to say. The Hebrew word used here for “listen” is “shema” and has a definition of, “to hear intelligently - with the implication of paying close attention” (Vines dictionary of the bible). This word is used as an imperative - some 27 times in the book of Isaiah for various peoples. But here it is used as a command to those who “pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD”. Is that you? Do you do these two things?
In the gospel of Matthew chapter 6, Jesus tells us not to worry about the things of this world; what to eat, drink or wear. He then says in verse 33, “But seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
So, we are to seek righteousness. And the scriptures tell us that it is Jesus himself who is our righteousness (see Jeremiah 23:5&6, 1Corinthians 1:30). Furthermore, Jesus tells us to follow Him (Luke14:27). Hmmmm. Do you pursue righteousness? Do you follow your Savior?
The other parameter for those who should be listening is “those who seek the LORD”. In the book of Deuteronomy we are told to “seek the LORD” and to do this with all of our heart and soul! But really, even without the admonitions in the scripture wouldn’t we strive to seek God? (That is an interesting question in light of our present society but we shall leave it for discussion at a later time.)
For now, let’s just say that you who are reading this are in some ways “seeking the LORD”. Having established this, I guess it behooves us to “listen to” God. And He is telling us to “look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were dug”. We are then told that this is Abraham and Sarah and intimates that they are our parents. I do not in any way want to leave Sarah out of this equation and will suffice it to say that she and her husband were truly of “one flesh”, from a biblical stand point. Their lives are displayed in scripture so that we may emulate them! And emulate them we must.
How are we to see them as our parents? We shall consider this in future articles. Remember, we are speaking of “good news”.