The alternative route
No one cares about being fair and honest. The people’s lawsuits are based on lies. They conceive evil deeds and then give birth to sin. They hatch deadly snakes and weave spiders’ webs. Whoever eats their eggs will die; whoever cracks them will hatch a viper. Their webs can’t be made into clothing, and nothing they do is productive. All their activity is filled with sin, and violence is their trademark... They think only about sinning. Misery and destruction always follow them. They don’t know where to find peace or what it means to be just and good. They have mapped out crooked roads, and no one who follows them knows a moment’s peace. Isaiah 59:4-8 NLT
There is conflict nowadays as to what truth is and what lies are. From the text, Isaiah compared the beginning of sin as to snakes hatching eggs and spiders weaving webs (Isaiah 59:5-6). The sin hatched will lead to destruction and the web of lies would not be able to provide protection. “And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death” (James 1:13-15). Sin and wickedness cannot be covered up for the results will reveal them. “Misery and destruction always follow them” (Isaiah 59:7). Peace will be elusive if sin will not be addressed. People in such predicament will always be in enmity with God. “For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will” (Romans 8:7). It is only the path that leads to God that will lead to real peace. Peace is a gift that God gives to those that finds their home in Him. “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them... I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give” (Romans 8:23, 27). Real peace is not an impossible ideal. God is inviting us to take the alternative route He spoke from His word. If you will insist on taking the crooked roads the world had mapped, “no one who follows them knows a moment’s peace” (Isaiah 59:8).
Blessings,
