You have wearied Me: Is 43:22-24

"Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob; but you have become weary of Me, O Israel. You have not brought to Me the sheep of your burnt offerings, nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, nor wearied you with incense. You have bought Me not sweet cane with money, nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices; rather you have burdened Me with your sins, you have wearied Me with your iniquities." (Isaiah 43:22-24)

What was it that God wanted from His people? Was it their obedience? Did He long that they would have theological purity? Was He simply interested in numbers; that the nation of Israel would increase to His glory. No, it was none of these things. What God wanted from His people was their love, affection, and attention. God complains that His people had forgotten Him. They had become like an unfaithful wife that wanders far from home. God loved her, be she wearied Him with her perpetual wandering. And it wasn't as if God even needed the burnt offerings or the sweet cane offerings. But He longed for the times when His people would put Him in remembrance as they offered their gifts to Him. It wasn't the gift that He was after, but the heart of the giver that He desired. So what was God to do? He decided to make a way for His people to return.

"I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins." (Isaiah 43:25)

God decided to send His own Son, as an offering for our sins, that He might forgive us for His own sake. And that in our forgiveness, that He might make a way for our reconciliation.

First and foremost, God wants us. He wants us to be in relationship with Him. He wants us to share our hopes, desires, and dreams with Him. How easy it is to forget God. To go through our day without ever thinking on Him. Day after day we wonder, forgetting that God is waiting for us, waiting for us to spend time with Him. But thanks be to God, that there is always a way back home. He is standing and waiting to forgive us and receive us back. Let us not wait, let us turn and run back to Him and enjoy the fellowship with the Father.

David Robison