The ways and thoughts of God

Yesterday we discussed Isaiah 55 in the sermon but as with most texts of scripture there is always more to discuss. Yesterday I covered rather quickly verses 8 and 9 which say, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither 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.” In the sermon I discussed how God’s ways and thoughts about grace and compassion are higher and much different than what we would consider or even think about doing. But the meaning of the text goes much further. Specifically, in the context of the wicked and the unrighteous, God’s ways and thoughts go deep, they go directly to the motives of our heart.
Jesus addresses this very idea as He preaches the Sermon on the Mount. He reminds us of what the commandments say but says that our understanding of how to obey them is too superficial. We must obey them even in the thoughts we produce.
The point of Isaiah 55 and the point Jesus is making in the Sermon on the Mount is that we are totally depraved. From the actions we do to thoughts of our mind, to the desires of our hearts we miss God’s mark and are in need of his power to transform us. But as God works in us to give us a new heart we are called to turn away from our sinful past and turn to God following his ways and learning his thought as we follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
No matter how far away from God we may be or others we have been pray for to know Christ we must remember God has power, absolute power and he is able to do abundantly beyond all we could ever ask or wish for. He is able!