The Bible says:
“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.”
— Isaiah 55: 7, 8
Thoughts are the ancestors or the germ of our actions. We act a certain way because we think a certain way. If we want to change the way we act we must first change the way we think. For we cannot think one way and live another way. We are what we think. (Proverbs 23: 7)
The sacrifice or religion of the wicked man is an abomination to the Lord.
(Proverbs 15: 8. The way or lifestyle of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. (Proverbs 15: 9) The thoughts of the wicked man are an abomination to the Lord.
(Proverbs 15: 26) The root of the wicked man’s problem is his thoughts. If his thoughts are an abomination to the Lord everything else about him will be an abomination (detested, disliked, despised) by the Lord because everything is sourced out of his thoughts which are formed in the heart.
(Matthew 15: 18-20) The Psalmist said:
“I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.”
— Psalm 119: 59-60
The Psalmist examined the way he was living and upon the examination saw that he was not living according to God’s Word, and turned, changed, repented, and began walking in the way of God’s Word. And this he did hastily and without a moments delay.
This is exactly what God was commanding Israel to do and is commanding us to do today in our text. God’s Word is the medium whereby He conveys His thoughts, His will, and His way to us.
When we hide the Word of God in our heart it changes our thought process and that in turn changes the way we live. Paul spoke of the mindset that Jesus had that led to His actions and self-sacrifice at Calvary, and tells the Christian to have this same humble mind set so that they can serve one another. (Philippians 2: 5-8) The words in our text are a rebuke. God gave His Word so that it would change the way we think and the way we live so that we could walk in fellowship with Him.
“Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”
— Amos 3: 3
How can anyone be brought into agreement and walk with God without knowing God through His Word and then agreeing and living by it?
God is not in our text lifting Himself up and proclaiming what a difference there is between Him and mere mortals.
He is declaring what a difference and a distance there is between Him and those who had His Word but did not live by it.
He is calling them to repent because their thoughts were not like His and their ways were not like His and return to Him.
By returning to a life of obedience to the Word there would then be a likeness in thought and way that made a way for fellowship and union between them and God.
Most often this text is used to make a comparison between Almighty God and mortal man and point out the gap between them and their differences.
But this is actually a rebuke that our thoughts and ways are not more in line with the Bible and more Christ-like.
James H. Cagle is a Ray City resident who pastored several churches for a total of 11 years. Email him at pastorjameshcagle@ yahoo.com
