August 23

Isaiah 1:19

If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

How often in God’s word He pleads with us to obey and follow His commands so that He can bless us and we can benefit from His bounty. He is ready and anxious to pour us out a blessing, but we continue in our leanness, our apathy and our lack of spiritual growth. Why is this? “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” Isaiah 59:1-2. That is the answer : unrepented, unconfessed sin. God challenges us in Malachi 3:10 to put Him to the test. If we will be obedient, He says, “Prove now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Commentary by Francis L. Harris

"...what must I do to be saved?" Acts 16:30