Thoughts and Ways

Seek the Lord while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:6-9 (NKJV)

As i was doing my Bible reading this morning i came upon this chapter in Isaiah. I had been reading the end of Isaiah 52 and through 53 and had been hesitant to go on for awhile due the nature and richness of that passage, but i decided today that it was time to go on. I'm glad that i did, because when i came upon ch. 55 i found some real substance. This is just a nugget of what's there, but i wanted to take note of it.

Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
And He will have mercy on him;
I think that this is interesting because it gives us a definition or understanding of what makes a man wicked or unrighteous and how they are different from one another.
The passage says to let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. A wicked man is created and defined by his actions and way of life. A wicked man is wicked because of what he does and who he is.
An unrighteous man on the other hand is defined by his thoughts. An unrighteous man may be doing the right things, but his heart and mind are not focused in the proper direction. My thought of this is kind of like the new testament Pharisees. They did the right things, but their hearts and thoughts were not lined up properly. But then that example may be a little bit of an extreme. This i see as many Christians today. We talk the talk and do the right action (go to church, maybe pay tithes sometimes, are involved in men's ministy), but oftentimes it's just a show or an act. We do it to because we want to be a part of something, or we want to be "religious", or because we are supposed to, or because it's what our spouse and family expects.

So what's the difference between the unrighteous man and the righteous man? I think that, that can be answered by looking at the next section:
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
The difference between the righteous man and the unrighteous man is that the righteous man lines himself up with God. He does not just do what he's "supposed to" do. He understands that God is the very focus of righteousness and he seeks to line himself, his ways and his thoughts, with God, and by doing so to be able to be used by Him.

Lord,
Help me to be a righteous man. I don't just want my actions to be "appropriate". I want my life, my thoughts, my ways to be lined up with You. Help me to be the kind of man, husband, and father that is not just living day to day doing my own thing, but that is lined up with you in thought and way. Give me the wisdom and understanding to be all you have. In the name of Jesus, the Christ, Amen.