So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)

I was listening to a “Renewing Your Mind” podcast about Jonathan Edwards (Early American pastor and author of the most famous American sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”). One of the interesting things that I learned was that he preached a 30 sermon series on just this one verse. I had to look it up to see what verse could be so deep that it could inspire 30 sermons. It is a deep and important verse that got me thinking. I, however, will not be doing a 30 post series on the subject. I guess Jonathan Edwards is a deeper theologian than I am.

Like usual, I prefer to read any verse in context, to prevent it from being taken out of context and be used in a misleading manner – by myself or by others.

Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. For you will go out with joy And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands. (Isaiah 55:6-12)

I think most of this passage is easy to understand, but sometimes we just need to slow down and contemplate on God’s word.

Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.

As Christians, we are blessed to be able to approach God, make requests, and have a relationship with our Creator. We shouldn’t take this blessing for granted, but make daily, hourly, and even minute-by-minute use of this opportunity. Paul tells us, “pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) We need God to be a part of everything we do.

Since becoming a Christian, I never really had difficulty bringing my big troubles to God. I did, however, used to have trouble bringing my daily concerns to God. I think I felt that I was bothering God, but God is not bothered by our prayers. He loves when we bring our joys & sorrows, desires & concerns, and thoughts & prayers to Him. He is able to see and interact with every person at every moment in time throughout all eternity without breaking a sweat. We aren’t interrupting Him because there is no limit to His attention or His understanding. There is also no limit to His love of His creation and especially His children.

Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

It is never too late to repent and turn from our wicked ways. This is equally true of the unbeliever who believes and repents, as it is to the believer who strayed and turns back to God. We are all called to return to the Lord. We are all called to seek God. We are all called to repent of our sins. We are all called to submit to the will of God. What does God promise if we obey this calling? He promises to have compassion on us and to abundantly pardon.

We do need to keep in mind that although now is not too late to repent and turn from our wicked ways, we are not promised another second, so we should never put off repentance to a later day or even a later hour.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Although we can never truly think God’s thoughts or know His ways, we should seek to get as close to this ideal as possible. The best way to know God’s thoughts and ways is to read the Bible. This is how God chose to reveal Himself to us. These are the precepts that He chose to reveal to us and wants us to know and understand.

Because God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours, we will never get to this point through our own logic; we need God’s word that was revealed to us. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16).

We all seem to make excuses for why we can’t read our Bible more. “I’m busy with work.” “My kids are taking up all of my time.” “I don’t really like reading.” “I just can’t find the time.” Sometimes we choose to not read because we think the Bible is “boring” or “confusing”. What we need to realize is that the more we read, the more we understand, and the more we understand, the more exciting it becomes. I’ve really enjoyed reading the posts of a relatively new Christian on Substack who is reading through the Bible for the first time and shares his excitement at knowing the word of God.

I’ve found that the Bible has become more exciting now that I know it well enough to see the connections between the different books of the Bible and especially between the Old Testament and the New Testament. I get to see the New Testament clarify things in the Old Testament and how New Testament principles are built on the foundation of the Old Testament. I get to see Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in the New Testament and prophecies from both being fulfilled in our day. Bible reading has gone from a box to check off to a whole-hearted desire to learn more about God, become more pleasing to God, and grow in my relationship with God. I love being able to answer young Christian’s questions about God and the Bible and to be an encouragement to them.

If we love God, we should love God’s word. Can you imagine a wife saying, “I love my husband, but I just can’t stand listening to him.” Would we think that wife really loved her husband? I don’t think so.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

The amazing thing about God’s word is that it doesn’t ever return empty. It always has an effect on lives. If I read the Bible, it affects the way I view God, the world, others, and myself. If I share God’s word with others, it will affect the same in them. Sometimes the changes are almost instantaneous; other times the changes are slow and gradual, but the changes always come.

We were created to love God and honor Him forever. We will never find true joy until we are doing what we were created to do. We will never do what we were created to do if we don’t know God’s word and use it for His glory. When we do learn God’s word and apply it in our lives, great things happen and our joy is made complete.

For you will go out with joy And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Being in God’s word will bring joy and peace like you have never known. Nobody ever regrets the time they spend studying God’s word. It is true fulfilment.

May God give you a hunger for His Word. May He give you understanding of His Word. May He help you to apply God’s word in your own life and share it with others for the glory of our God and Savior.

Trust Jesus

All verses are NASB unless otherwise noted.