Morning Thoughts - by Elder Philip Conley

Morning Thoughts

Isaiah 6:10, "Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes: lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed."

This morning, many people think that God is desirous for everyone on the planet to know Him, think of Him, and follow Him. Should that be God's desire, then that would indeed be a reality. For, our God does whatsoever pleases Him. However, such is not the case, and one can only come to a correct conclusion by saying that God does not purpose such. In fact, not only does God not purpose that with the unregenerate, but He has not seen fit to do such for some of His children. Such is the case in this verse, as the Lord specifically declares that He will blind them so that they will not understand. They have a heart capable to do so, but the Lord has removed the availability of such.

For one to understand some of the workings of the Almighty, one must first understand the difference between birth and conversion. Many people speak of being baptized, believing, confessing, and such as a method of being born again. These principles are all taught in the Scriptures, but they have conversion and not regeneration under consideration. To be fully converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, one must strive to keep the precepts and commandments of the Lord. So, why are some not converted? This question has multiple answers.

In some cases, the god of this world (devil) has blinded people's eyes to not follow after the truth. Paul speaks of this in II Corinthians 4. In other cases, our fleshly nature and desires keep us from doing the things that we should. The thorny ground let the cares of the world choke out the things of God. The rich young ruler let his riches stand in the way of true discipleship and conversion. In other cases, the Lord Himself keeps some of His children from conversion because of their own disobedience. This was the case with natural Israel during the days of Isaiah the prophet. They had become so enamored with their own glory and pomp that the Lord gave them up to their own desires (the fulfillment of that was being led into captivity for 70 years).

He even tells Isaiah that his preaching is going to make them even less desirable to follow after Him. Many times, the gospel points out our own shortcomings by showing the perfection of Christ. That is a tough pill for man to swallow sometimes. However, true conversion comes when we lay aside self and follow after selflessness. Our Lord has every right to do anything He desires, but He chose to give us an example of servitude to follow. So, conversion can be stopped by a number of different things. Sometimes, the child of God can get in such a state
that their conscience is seared with a hot iron and they are unable to receive the things of God. But, thanks be unto Him that our own shortcomings do not keep His eternal love from us. He has purposed to love us, and He changes not.

However, if He has blessed us to see some things that He has kept from others (for so it seemed good in His sight), we ought to be ever grateful for that knowledge to carry it through in our lives to the praise, honour, and glory of Him. One final thought, conversion is not something that happens once (like regeneration). It is a continual work that we must keep after. Once one is converted, they can still fall away from that. Let us never err from the truth, and if we do, may we ever listen to the sound advice from good brethren that are trying to save our souls from death and hide a multitude of sins. Our conversion and walk is for His glory and not our own.

In Hope,

Bro Philip