In chapter 30 of Isaiah, God declares that Israel is behaving like an obstinate child, carrying out their own plans rather than His. In this chapter we sense God’s love and frustration with His chosen people, and in verse 15 it is clear that God was longing for Israel to turn back to Him:

‘This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.

Repenting is not just about saying sorry.  The word translated repentance is metanoia, an Ancient Greek word (μετάνοια) meaning ‘changing one’s mind’.  It conveys a sense of a conscious and complete turnaround in a person’s thinking and attitude towards God.

I’m writing these notes on Maundy Thursday, the end of Lent. We are inviting guests to attend our Easter Sunday service in prayer and hope that some will accept the message of Easter, but sadly so many chose not to believe!  Verse 15 makes clear that it was a conscious and deliberate choice of Israel to reject her God.

We are also running another Alpha course at our church, and it always amazes me that some who attend delay making a decision for Jesus – ‘I’ll think about it’.  What they fail to realise is that there is no sitting on the fence.  If you delay, then you have already made a decision to ‘have none of it’.

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Application:

If we have repented, and know the Lord, then let us rest in quietness and trust, that we might be strengthened in our faith, and truly know that “… I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Ps 46:10).

Prayer:

Dear Lord, thank You that You have made salvation possible for all those who would repent and believe.  Help me today to be still and rest in your presence, and in that quietness find my strength. Amen.