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; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.

    Isaiah 55:6-7

There are some practical benefits that come to those of us who surrender our lives to Jesus Christ. And what is the first benefit in surrendering our lives to Christ? God will freely pardon us from all of our sin; past, present, and future. But before we get to this incomparable benefit of pardon, we need to examine the criteria as found in today’s passage.

Seek The Lord While He May Be Found

This verse is a reminder that there will come a day when we will no longer have the opportunity to “call on the name of the Lord.” Consider these words:

Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 

            Romans 2:4

God is more patient with us than we will ever find in the most patient of people and He extends more patience to us than we even extend to ourselves. And what is the purpose of this patience? It is designed to lead us to repentance (something we will discuss further down.) “Seeking the Lord while He may be found,” is a reminder to all of us that today is the day of salvation. Today is the day of rescue for those of us who cry out to God and seek Him with all of our heart. But there is more to this receiving salvation and God’s pardon.

Let The Wicked Forsake HIs Way 

Forsaking our sin is to turn from it. It is to recognize it as the single obstacle to fellowship with God. In the new covenant, made by God to mankind, is the offer of salvation and new birth. But in order for us to receive this salvation, we must first recognize our need for this salvation. This “changing of our mind” is known as repentance. There simply is no salvation apart from repentance for the obvious reason that we cannot receive the cure if we don’t recognize the disease. Forsaking our sin means that we no longer desire to live in sin, apart from the presence of God. And the good news is that God is patient, waiting for all men, women, and children to come to Him by faith. 

Let The Unrighteous Forsake His Thoughts

With salvation comes a new way of thinking. Instead of rejecting the word of God, we now establish it as the authority in our lives. In place of a life void of the Holy Spirit, we now enjoy the presence of God with us at all times. We no longer think like the rest of the world rather we think the thoughts of God and claim those truths, praying them over our lives. And when we combine biblical thinking with the power of the Holy Spirit in us, we can live transformed, uncommon, abundant lives. 

Returning To God

So today’s passage guides us to repentance and renewed relationship with our heavenly Father. Seek the Lord, forsaking our corrupt ways and thoughts, and then return to the Lord. We see this same roadmap in the New Testament:

Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…

Acts 3:19

Notice that repentance and the wiping away of our sin precedes the “times of refreshing coming from the presence of the Lord.” The repentance is our part and the pardon from God is His. And what keeps us from this wonderful existence isn’t that God will not forgive rather when we find ourselves outside of God’s best it’s because of our own stubborn and rebellious hearts. 

Compassion

With repentance (seeking the Lord, forsaking our thoughts and ways) comes compassion from God. Compassion is the precursor to pardon. Before we receive God’s pardon, we need to understand His disposition towards us in the forgiving of our sin. God demonstrates His goodness by looking upon us with compassion. Consider these words:

Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.

              Psalm 103:13

Compassion is a characteristic of God. He loves and desires to pour out compassion on all of those who fear Him. This means that we acknowledge and reverence Him as God. So with repentance comes compassion, forgiveness, and times of refreshing from the presence of God. 

God Abundantly Pardons

The word “abundantly” appears multiple times in scripture and usually points to the activity of God. When God does something, He does it abundantly. In this case the abundance comes in His pardons. Everything that we do in the dark will eventually be exposed but blessed are those who brings their sins and transgressions to the light for they will receive compassion and abundant pardon from the Lord. Consider this:

He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.

    Proverbs 28:13

Ruin (spiritual and otherwise) will eventually descend on those who attempt to keep their sins hidden but for those who confess and forsake those ways, the Lord will have compassion on them and will abundantly pardon!

Could you use a fresh start today? Seek the Lord while He may be found, confess and forsake your sin, and you will receive the first of four benefits for those who seek God…an abundant pardon!

…and (if) My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14