There Is None Besides Me

”You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’ Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away. A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you.” Isaiah 47:10-11

These were the prophetic words from God in Isaiah when speaking of the Fall of Babylon. God spoke to Babylon as if the city were a painted woman of the night, a prostitute who sold her worth in every transaction in her life. He speaks as if she lurked around in the dark allies stealing, seducing, and intoxicating her prey only to gain at the loss of others.

Have things changed? Does our culture paint up our face, look to self for gain and sell ourselves for cheap? Within the walls of our home do we hide our choices and try to cover our sins? Do our children see our homes as a monument of worship to God or as a mistress to the world?

God makes it abundantly clear throughout the Bible that sin will be dealt with in each of our lives and there is no action that is not laid bare upon the Lord’s examination. When we choose sin in private to man it is in full view to God. I once read a book, Who You Are When No One’s Looking which was a wonderful book on building character as it relates to biblical standards.

The road to calamity and disaster is littered with wisdom and knowledge of self and want. We are all guilty of this in some area of our lives which will be dealt with on some level at some point. God will not be less than God so He must stay true to His holiness in dealing with our sins. The beauty of God is forgiveness and each day is new.

As we begin a new year and a new day let us place our trust in holiness instead of sin and wisdom in place of want.