The Higher Road

“Take the Moral High Road.” How many times in life have you heard that saying? Well in my family, we hear it a lot. Just take the moral high road. If you respond to them, you’ll only lower yourself to their standards. Believe it or not, when I was a kid, I got teased a lot. I was constantly being made fun of for one thing or another. In grade school, it was how I was dressed and the grades I got. In middle school I had braces and just gotten glasses. In high school, I was on the golf team and in the band, which in my town was considered nerdy. I was constantly being razzed, ripped on and ridiculed. On the other hand, I had lots of friends too. I quickly became accustomed to hearing my parents say the words, “Ryan, just take the moral high road. Don’t give in, don’t be mean back because you’ll only lower yourself to their level.” As a kid, it’s not what you want to hear. I mean, I didn’t even fully understand what that meant. All I knew was that I wanted to retaliate. But better judgment prevailed (partially because I didn’t want to get into trouble), I pushed it off. Doing this enabled me to be able to take constructive criticism well. These days, I love constructive criticism. It helps me grow as a Christian. Do some of the things people say hurt? Yes. Is there a nugget of truth in it? Yes. But most of all, I can use it to grow. The Scripture we are going to read today is Isaiah 55:1-13; focusing on verses 6-9. This set of Scriptures talk about going to the Lord, more specifically, that high road that we are familiar with. If you would, read along with me. 1 "Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! 2 Why do you spend money on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods. 3 Pay attention and come to Me; listen, so that you will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the promises assured to David. 4 Since I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples, 5 so you will summon a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you will run to you. For the LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel, has glorified you." 6 Seek the LORD while He may be found; call to Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked one abandon his way, and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, so He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will freely forgive. 8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways." [This is] the LORD's declaration. 9 "For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven, and do not return there without saturating the earth, and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, 11 so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and will prosper in what I send it [to do]." 12 You will indeed go out with joy and be peacefully guided; the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you, and all the trees of the field will clap [their] hands. 13 Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up, and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up; it will make a name for the LORD as an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed. Why is it that we humans have a tendency to pursue things that don’t last? Take a car for example. My grandpa always told me that a car would be the most expensive thing you own. Take a car, brand new, straight off the line, a run of the mill basic car, depending on make and model will run you anywhere from 18 – 30K. Not only this, but the value of it depreciates the moment you drive it off the lot by several thousand. Then, you have oil changes, gas, basic maintenance like tires, windshield wipers, air filters, batteries, wiper fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid, and then…sometimes the thing breaks down and ends up costing thousands more dollars to fix. Unfortunately, it adds up quickly. These days, I think I’d add houses to that too. Same issues, different materials. Yet, one of the things we pursue the fastest is a nice car. Boy have I ever been guilty of that in the past! For 5 years I didn’t have a car payment. We had old junker cars that I was constantly putting money into, but I didn’t have a car payment. Now I have 2. Oh, how I long for those things to be paid off. But why is it we pursue things that constantly break down…that we sink our hard earned cash into things that will not last? Partially because we have to have them survive in today’s world…but then again, look at what some people have in other countries. They have seriously old models of cars and they manage with that one vehicle. So, what’s the point? God tells all of us who are thirsty, to seek him out. God provides what we need; if only we would surrender to him. He’s made us promises of salvation and care; if only we would surrender to him. Focusing in on verse 6-9, their point is to seek the Lord. Abandon the ways of evil. Submit your thoughts to him; because he will have compassion on you, and forgive you. All of this because God’s ways, are not our ways; His thoughts are not our thoughts. Don’t see me picking on cars or housing. I want you to see this as an issue of surrendering to Christ. I’m not saying that cars and houses are evil. What I’m saying is that which one do you pursue more? God’s high road, or the things here? It’s not about cars or houses, video games or sports…but what about the approval of others? Seeking out the approval of others puts them ahead of God. God is the only one we need to be worrying about pleasing. When I talked earlier about being made fun of, one of the things that drove me to want to retaliate was approval. I thought if I fought back, they’d see me as tough and they’d like me more. For a long time, I sought the approval of my mom and dad. I wanted to please them and make the happy…to make them proud of me. However, we have to take the moral high road. It isn’t about retaliation, approval or material things. It’s about pursuing God’s ways. Life is hard. Pursuing God’s ways through this life is even harder. This Scripture that we read today is a prophecy of Christ. Verses 1 and 2 talk about how God provides food and drink without money. Jesus states this very fact in John 6:35. "35 "I am the bread of life," Jesus told them. "No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again." Verse 3 talks about the covenant with David. Just as a refresher, God promised David that there will be a descendant that will sit on his throne forever…speaking of Christ. Jesus is the promise of this New Covenant. The word we translate as Testament is actually better translated covenant. So as to say the Bible is made of two parts, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Verse 4 continues this prophecy. Jesus is the leader and commander of the peoples; Jesus has glorified us all. This week, I want to you to continue on this trek. Re-read this passage this week with Christ in mind. Try to find all of the places where you see Christ prophesied in this passage. This week on the discussion board on the website, I’ll post this question, so you can respond to where you see Christ in these passages. With this said, Christ is the answer to all of our needs. Even in our economic trials, with jobs scarce and money tight, we are still among the richest people in the world. Even those who are the poorest still rank in the top 1/3rd of the world’s richest people. We have been blessed thoroughly by our God. Surrendering to God’s will is the only answer to the needs we have. MOVIE CLIP- ‘Bruce Almighty’ What aspect of taking the moral high road do you struggle with? What keeps you from pursuing God’s ways that are higher than our own? Do you seek the approval of others? Do you struggle with some sort of material issue? Or, perhaps, you aren’t even sure what it is you struggle with? Some of the most prominent problems I have had in the past, I had no idea I struggled with until God revealed them to me. That is what I ask of you today. Ask God to show you the things you struggle with that keep you from pursuing The Higher Road. You are capable with the help of God.