Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 55:6-7
Returning to the Lord involves, first, a forsaking of something—our ways and our thoughts. In other words, we need to quit all our known sins and forsake our wicked ways. We need to quit thinking that we can live for ourselves and still call ourselves Christians. We need to quit thinking we can define right and wrong for ourselves.
This returning is, second, a means of submitting. We must submit our lives to Christ as the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. We must submit our lives to Christ’s Word, so that with His strength, we can go on dying to sin and living to righteousness. We want to forsake all that He tells us is sinful and pursue all that He tells us is righteous.
The starting point for being a Christian is that Jesus Christ is your Lord. And when He is your Lord, you can rightly call Him your Savior. Jesus is able to save your soul. He is able to do it because He died for sins. No person who comes to Him will ever be turned away. No soul that is trusted into His hands will ever be lost.
Have you returned to Him? Have you forsaken your sins? Have you crowned Him as Lord of your life? Or are you determined to keep your life in your own hands? Jesus says to you today, “Whoever would save his life will lose it.” But then, in love, He says, “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 16:25).
