Isaiah 1:16-17

Wash! Cleanse yourselves! Remove your sinful deeds from my sight. Stop sinning! Learn to do what is right! Promote justice! Give the oppressed reason to celebrate! Take up the cause of the orphan! Defend the rights of the widow!

The Lord is speaking to Israel, to turn from their evil ways. There is cost to sin, yet without a relationship with God it is unable to change a person's heart. Isaiah 1:2 says, "Listen, O heavens, pay attention, O earth! For the Lord speaks: “I raised children, I brought them up, but they have rebelled against me!" The picture is God (The Father) who raises children (Israel), who have rebelled against Him. Christ unlocks the way for the Lord's instruction to be written on our hearts. We can only love God because He loved us first and sent Jesus to deal with our inability to receive life and change from His instruction. This is the power and beauty of the Holy Spirit, who mediates our experience of the Lord and seals us in loving relationship with Him! Thank you Jesus!