Isaiah/John

A call to confession and commitment.
Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.(KJV) Tells us that confession is done in partnership with God Himself
Isaiah 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:(KJV) Tells is that commitment is done by ourselves and a setting of our goals in life.
Isaiah 2:5-22 Describes what man becomes when corrupted by money, power and idol worship. A people so luke warm they are no use, But beyond that they are fearful of the day of the Lord. They hide in holes in the rocks from the majesty and glory of God and beyond that Gods very prescence brings them low. The passage describes that it is not only man but his possessions and all he has made that is bought low.
Isaiah 2:19 sums it up, they hide "from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty"
Man will not be able to stand before such a being. Isaiah 2:22 Don’t put your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. What good are they?(NLT) The new king james says severe yourselves from such a man. This is the warning to us and the escape route, it instructs us that we don't havs to live like that. Severe yourselves from such a man, in other words don't be like him Psalm 146 describes an alternative Psalms 146:3 "do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man in whom there is no help." Psalms 146:5 "happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help" Also Jeremiah 17:5-8 talks about the man who puts his trust in man and by contrast the man who trusts in the Lord. They are dry and desolute as opposed to vibrant and fertile.
John 1:11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.(NLT) He, that is God as Jesus, came to His own and they did not receive him v12, but some did and to those he gave the right to be children of God, those not born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh (sex), nor of the will of man, BUT OF GOD (Spirit).
The theme is spiritual, that of spirit working out in the flesh not flesh working out the spiritual.
God reveals himself to us through Jesus the light of the world, something is illuminated within us and we are changed, no longer fearful of the great day of the Lord as described by Isaiah, but safe in the knowledge that we have been given a right to be children of God. We are no longer stained, shrivelled bushes growing in a parched wilderness but strong trees growing in fertile watered ground bearing much fruit.
In all of this we must decide how we use our time. Do we use it for our own gain or for the gain of others? God has given us so much and yet so often we think it is for our own benefit, yet, in reality it is for the good of others.
Isaiah 1:16-17 Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.(NLT)