W K Tweedie
Isaiah 44:22. Return unto Me, for I have redeemed thee.
Such is the gracious invitation of God to His wandering people. On the Right hand and on the left they forsake His ways. The smallest trifle succeeds in enticing them away from Him. Upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, they sin against their God. But though they forget Him, His affections are still set on them; He commands them – indeed He entreats them – to return. His compassion is moved at their self-destruction, and by mercy upon mercy He would regain their confidence and their heart.
Mark, my soul, the ground on which God rests his plea: “Return . . . for I have redeemed thee”. Not creation – that failed long ago to bind the creature to the Creator. Not providence – that also was unavailing, for man snatched at the gift and neglected the Giver. But Redemption – that supplied the motives which were destined to win back man’s wayward heart, or to prove that it could not be won. The precious blood of Christ, as the price of redemption; His agonies, tears and death, as the means of working it out; His love, which many waters could not quench nor universal enmity subdue – these are the moral powers appointed to sway man’s soul. Swayed by these, the soul will return to its God to rejoice in the liberty which the Son bestows.
1Taken, with editing, from Tweedie’s volume, Glad Tidings of the Gospel of Peace.
But has my heart yielded to that appeal, or am I still stout-hearted and far from righteousness? Am I redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, or do I rather trample upon the blood of the covenant and count it an unholy thing?
Blessed are they who listen to that appeal! They shall be still praising God. Who is he that shall harm them? Of them Jehovah has said, “This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise”. The longer that I strive to work out my own salvation according to the Word of God, the more need I feel to make sure that this salvation is personal – that it is my own. May the Spirit of all grace teach me to say, as the Word of God warrants, “The Lord is my shepherd”, and, Christ “loved me, and gave Himself for me.”