Today's Passage: Isaiah 5-6

I remember getting the newest GI JOE or STAR WARS toy on Christmas morning as a kid, something I had been wanting for months. WOW!  I would just sit and stare at it.  Then, the inevitable would happen, I would get bored with it and begin desiring the next big shiny, cool toy.  We often treat our relationship with God this way.  So much of our walk with God is focused on events or material things.  We are really no different than the Israelites.  Just like them, we get something from God and then it is not long before we are back to our own way of doing things.  This reality is what is behind chapter five and Isaiah's commission to speak to the people with them not hearing or accepting the message.  What about Isaiah's experience in chapter six?  God reveals Himself to Isaiah and he submits to the point of fear for his unclean life.  This is the reality of worship.  God initiates and we respond in submission to Him.  We want things from God, not His person, His relationship, or His rule in the deepest parts of our hearts.  These are the things that true worship bring in our lives.  The beauty is that God knows our frailties and our desire for things and keeps on revealing Himself to us.  This is also why Jesus said many times in John 15, "Abide in Me."  The verb tense used actually means, "keep on abiding;" it's a process.  Look for God to reveal Himself to you today, and submit and abide!