God’s prophet Isaiah issues an invitation to “abundant life.” He writes, “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). Isaiah is appealing to everyone to respond to God’s call to “Seek the Lord.” God is calling all people—both Jews and Gentiles, to Himself that they may know Him, His ways, His will, His purposes, and His plans for their lives. And also to experience abundant life in Jesus Christ.
God is making this most generous and wonderful offer of peace and pardon to anyone who will accept His divine offer. He has shown Himself to be a most gracious, compassionate, merciful, and forgiving God. Therefore, He will abundantly pardon all our sins. He stated, “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12). Sin means “to miss the mark,” because everyone has fallen short of God’s glory. Evil and lawlessness are a result of the sin nature which we were all born with. The Scripture says “I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5).
Isaiah says, “Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts.” The wicked’s way is ‘the world, the flesh, and the devil’. Man needs to forsake his wicked ways and evil thoughts by first being reconciled to God. God cannot and will not condone man’s sinful and wretched condition. Man must first repent of his sins and seek God’s pardon and forgiveness. God is holy and righteous, and cannot condone sin in any way, shape or form. The Bible says that God is “of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong” (Habakkuk 1:13). God requires sinful man to “remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good” (Isaiah 1:16,17). This is only possible when man repents of his sins and turn to Jesus Christ for salvation.
Salvation means deliverance, safety, preservation, healing, and soundness. Salvation is the great inclusive word of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3,4). Without salvation, a person is lost and “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).
God has given man opportunity and time to come to Him and know Him. But so many have not grasped the opportunity to be “right with God.” God says, “because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you . . . Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD” (Proverbs 1:24-29).Be warned, there will come a time when God will not be found any longer, neither will His favor be available any longer. Thats why there is an urgency involved with God’s call. It istherefore incumbent on everyone to listen and respond.
The invitation ”Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near,” implies there isa time limit. There is no time like the present. Tomorrow may be too late and cannot be guaranteed. There is the old saying: Yesterday is a “canceled check.” Tomorrow is a “promissory note.” Today is “cash in hand.” Spend it wisely.” This means that yesterday is gone and we can’t do anything about it. Tomorrow is most uncertain. But today is ours. We can make up our minds to accomplish what we set out to do. The Bible stresses the value of the present. “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Jesus promised, “whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37). Why not call on the Lord Jesus while He is near? The Bible tells us “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). Also, “Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame” (Romans 10:11). You have everything to gain and nothing to lose but you sins.
God is able and willing to forgive the sins of any individual who is seeking His forgiveness. The Bible says that God is “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God will abundantly pardon all who come to Him in faith. And get to know and obtain His mercy and grace. The problem for some is that they believe there are different ways to God. On the contrary. The Bible makes it plain, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Proverbs 14:12).Jesus is the only way to be right with God, and He is the only way to God. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).