REASON WITH GOD

The world is full of issues; international conflicts down to personal crisis. Nations are rising against
nations, spouses against one another, parents against their own children and vice versa, siblings against
siblings etc but the worst bit is individuals are rising against God as they blame him for the conflicts that
engulf them. Peace is becoming a very expensive and elusive asset at whatever level in the society.

What do we do with this crisis?

The answer was given by prophet Isaiah long before the physical birth of our savior and is enshrined in
this divine appeal to all;

Come now, let us reason together.

The Lord states clearly that our sins could be like scarlet or red as crimson but He will make them as
white as snow and they shall become like wool. (Isaiah 1:18). Crimson and scarlet are shades of red that
are impossible to ignore since they are very conspicuous. It’s also very hard to ignore snow-white wool.
This means a radical sinner can become a cool and good person after allowing himself to reason with
God. This person will radically become friendly to the hurting like a soft woolen cloth to a patient.

Persons who fail to reason with God are compared unfavorably with the ox and the donkey;

The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its owner’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not
understand. Isaiah 1:3.

Actually, the people are like rebellious children, or sons, raised by God the Father but they’ve rebelled
against Him. Isaiah 1;2. If only these people would have sense in their heads they would realize what
kind of a father God is! They are like children of a very rich parent who have, on their own accord,
rebelled against their only true and extremely powerful parent who is ready to give them a handsome
inheritance but they must style up first. They must engage their brains and turn back to their personal
relationship with Father God.

It is the human rebellion against God that leads us into problems. In Genesis chapter 3, Adam chose to
reason with forces that oppose God. He was to avoid the fruits of a certain tree to avoid death. He
rebelled and ate and consequently he had to face not only death but also spiritual, psychological and
emotional crisis. Things were never the same again! Sin spelled the end of the perfect and wonderful
relationship with God, his spouse and the environment.

We should certainly better than the ox that knows its owner or the donkey that knows its master’s
feeding trough! The owner of an ox will ensure its healthy, well fed and secure plus other privileges.
However if the same ox goes wild it will expose itself to all kinds of danger. So it is with us; we stop our
loyalty to God and we expose ourselves to all sorts of problems.

As long as the donkey remains loyal to the master, it’s assured of a meal from the same master. It does
not serve one master and expect to be fed by another! It knows the trough provided by the master and
thus eats its right food. As Christians, what do we fed our souls with? Our feeding trough is the
Biblebecause man does not thrive by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the
Lord. Deuteronomy 8:3.

Our owner and master is God. We are children raised by a loving and rich Father God but are losing
sense by going astray. We are rebelling against our powerful parent and are therefore exposing
ourselves to the consequences of all kinds of conflicts. However, the answer to the seemingly endless
conflicts lies in us if we agree to reason out with God who is our Father (owner) and master. He is ready
to take us back and provide us with all we need if only we repent of our rebelliousness; Come now, let
us reason together, He says. Our Almighty Father is willing take us back to his embrace and to change
our situations to be completely different from what they are right now. He is saying, though your sins
are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become
like wool. Isaiah however warns that if we pray to God without repenting our sins , we are actually
wasting our time; when you spread out your hands , I will hide my face from you,; even if you make
many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil………Isaiah 1:15-16. We shall
remain in our pitiable states because God’s merciful eyes are not with the unrepentant. The only
reasonable thing to access God’s abundant peace and resources is through repentance, period!

From God’s end its very clear; If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if
you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah
1:19-20. In John’s Gospel chapter15:14 Jesus says; You are my friends if you do what I command you.
So when we become sensible enough as to repent all our sins, we become God’s friends. In this status
we can ask for anything as stated in John 15:16, …….whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may
give it to you. The condition God puts so that we can eat the good of the land is willingness and
obedience. We must obey God’s law in totality and Jesus summarized it as; You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and
your neighbor as yourself Luke 10;27.

So brethren let us obey the law of love and we shall enjoy the best of everything from our God the
Father. Just as the ox knows its owner, let us always go to God as our loving rich parent with the full
knowledge that He will not listen to unrepentant sinners. He will solve all our conflicts. Let us embrace
Him as our Master. When we allow Him to control our lives, then we shall realize that obedience to God
is better than any sacrifice. He will turn His face to us and with this,we are well taken care of in all
aspects of our lives.

OBEDIENCE MAKES GOD OUR ANSWER! So reason with God and obey…..