A Frank and Open Disucssion

I

 love good conversations and if a cup of coffee is involved, so much the better.  The subject matter can cover a wide range of topics and as long as the discussion is engaging, I’m in!  The important thing to remember about good conversation is always to include people in the conversation who know more than you do.  Fortunately for me, this isn’t difficult!!  By talking with people who know more than you do, you ensure two things.  One, you will not dominate the conversation and two, you will learn something which is the goal of good conversation anyway.

If God invited you to have an open discussion with Him, what would you choose as your topic?  This is a very deep an probing question and speaks volumes about our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  “But God would never ask anyone to converse with Him on any subject” you might be saying.  If this is what you think, I’m going to ask you to pick up your Bible and just look at.  What do you think it is?  It is the recorded conversation of God with man throughout history.  This conversation is ongoing and includes you and me.

In the Old Testament we find an invitation to join God in a conversation.  Let’s open the invitation and see what it says.  It is found in Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”  Wow, what an invitation!  Would you accept it?

In the opening chapter of Isaiah, God makes His case against Israel, giving example after example of how she has wondered away from Him.  They have consistently chosen their own way and tried to do things according to their own desires and the result has been exile, slavery, etc.  But now God speaks of restoration and bringing the people back to their relationship with Him.  That is why He offers them this opportunity to talk with Him.

Through this frank and open discussion, Israel learns that God wants to heal the wounds, that He wants to be a father to them, and that He loves them more they know, understand, or could even imagine.  Notice in the above passage that God invites them to “reason” with Him.  He wants them to understand, to see, to experience the salvation He offers them.  No matter how dark the sin, no matter what their past has been, no matter what the have done or failed to do, God says they can be clean, as white as snow!  I don’t know about you but to me that’s pretty clean!

Although Isaiah wrote this passage thousands of years ago, its message still rings true for us today.  God still invites people to talk with Him.  He wants us to understand what sin is and how it keeps us from having the relationship God wants to have with us. He also wants us to know that sin prevents us from being the people He intended for us to be all along.  How conversant are you with God today?  Do you want to talk to Him?  He wants to talk to you, He says so in His word.  Are you ready for a frank and open discussion today?