Isaiah 1:1-3 – Don’t be ungrateful

The Prophet Isaiah called his proclamation a vision. His vision was not the product of his mind, thinking, imagination, or logical conclusions. What he proclaimed was an experience of sight, not imagination. His vision was a God-given ministry tool. What he saw had to do with the events concerning the Southern The Kingdom of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem. Those events took place under the reign of four kings namely, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. We must also begin with the premise that Isaiah’s vision was not just the result of an insightful man who had astutely analyzed events of the day and forecasting the result of his analysis. As God’s prophet, Isaiah’s proclamation came through a revelation from God, and he knew with a settled certainty that whatever he said was divinely true.

What we see here in chapter 1 is like a court scene. In the first three verses, Isaiah acting as God’s prosecutor began by announcing the offense committed by God’s own children against Him. Heaven and earth were summoned to listen to the accusation God was making against His own. One detestable attitude clearly demonstrated was their attitude of ingratitude. What became clear as we read verses 1-3 are these: firstly, the people of Judah and God had a Father-son relationship. God was their father and they were His sons. He loved them dearly and they were the object of His love. Secondly, God was the one who had raised them up. He cared and nurtured them and brought them up. They had status and stature because of God. But sadly, they showed ingratitude by rebelling against God, the Father who had loved them. Acting like rebellious children they spurned the love that God had shown. Even animals recognized their master and would reciprocate the love shown to them. But Israel, God’s people were worst than those dumb animals. By their ingratitude, they had shown how lack of appreciation of the privilege they had.

 

To have a relationship with God is a supreme privilege accorded to us. We must cherish it and take time to nurture the relationship. Never should we take Him for granted and allow the relationship to lapse into a non-vibrant, non-existent state. Because when that happens, we become nonchalant and show a lack of understanding for God, leading to a life of ingratitude. We must seek to cultivate an attitude of gratitude for what God has done for us by living life thankfully. Let us set our affection on Him!