Daily Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Sunday, March 21, Evening
By Ann Dooley Parsons, April 12, 1979
He Will Take Your Guilt Away
Read Isaiah 53:4-6
In Isaiah 53, we see a striking description of the suffering Christ. But doesn’t this also depict humanity in its sin? Look at the words — sorrows, griefs, transgressions, iniquities and lastly: “All we like sheep have gone astray.”
This adds up to one fact: each of us has a flaw, a blemish or several. Think of yourself or those you know and love – your friends, your relatives or your immediate family. There is something imperfect about each one of us. We aren’t willing to do our share, we lose our tempers, we’re selfish, we gossip, we’re too easy or not easy enough, we’re greedy. We too have fallen short – we too have turned to our own ways – we too have gone astray.
These flaws we have create guilt feelings and because of guilt we lose our peace of mind. Somehow the joy gets rendered out of life because of these flaws.
Is there any hope? Isaiah 53 tells us there is all the hope in the world. Truly we have gone astray, but remember that there is the Lamb of God who has not. Jesus Christ has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He Will Take Away Our Guilt.
Once again read Isaiah 53 and notice the plural. ALL have gone astray and ALL have been forgiven. But don’t be misled by the plural. Each one of us must believe, each one of us must accept to receive the blessed healing.
In the words of a beautiful and familiar hymn …
Prayer
Come ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish, Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel; Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish, Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal. Amen.
