I remember the one and only time I “pulled an all-nighter” studying for school. It was Organic Chemistry and we were preparing for our final exam in the spring. Our professor had warned against this exact idea. His years of experience with students taught him that a bit of sleep was more important than the bit of knowledge gained from the studying. Well. My years of experience had taught me nothing so my friend and I decided to go for it. If you’re wondering how it went, I’ll just point out that I do not work in the organic sciences and I think that’s all that needs to be said. After taking a nap and getting my grade, I definitely realized I should’ve listened to the professor.

In today’s reading I noticed Isaiah 48:18 (NIV) which says, “If only you had paid attention to my commands…”, and I feel that at a heart level. So many of us have ‘if onlys’ in our life; where we knew the right thing to do, didn’t do it, and have to deal with the consequences. This is Israel’s reality. They could have; we don’t know if they would have; they should have, but they didn’t listen to God’s commandments or the prophets he sent to them. They chose instead to stay with the status quo and live outside of God’s boundaries – worshiping false idols and ignoring the helpless: the orphan, widow, and foreigner. (Ezekiel 22)

The difference between the world and God is that when God says, “If only you had paid attention,” there is always the opportunity for reconciliation and forgiveness. This doesn’t mean that God will prevent us from dealing with the earthly consequences of our foolishness, but he will forgive us and restore us when we come back to him. That is the story repeated again and again throughout Scripture so we know it’s true. It would almost certainly be better to have listened well the first time, but when we fall short (as we do!), we can know that God does not change his mind about us.

Questions for reflection:

  1. Have you ever thought or said a version of “If only I’d listened”? How has God moved through that? What did you learn from it?
  2. Why do you suppose God spent so much time warning Israel? Why do you suppose God welcomed them back so freely? How do you feel about the ease with which God restored them?
  3. Consider a prayer thanking God for his faithfulness to you and asking him for his continued protection in your life. Ask him to give you wisdom and courage – wisdom to know what the right thing is and courage to follow through.