This is kind of a sad verse. It's Isaiah 1, 4.
Isaiah is prophesying about the people, really
Judah and Jerusalem, God's people, supposed to
be followers of the Lord. And he says in chapter
1, verse 4 of the book of Isaiah, O sinful nation,
people weighed down with guilt, offspring of
evildoers, sons who act corruptly. They have
abandoned the Lord. They have despised the Holy
One of Israel. They have turned away from Him.
I don't know about you, but when I think about
the way the world's going sometimes, I wonder
if this is not exactly where we're at, a sinful
nation weighed down with guilt. Guilt then motivates
people to do a lot of things. Sometimes guilt
makes people try to do better. But the truth
is, when you try to do better out of guilt, you
just wind up doing better that's still bad because
it's not motivated by the right heart. Realize
that God does not use guilt. While a man may
be guilty before the Lord, God does not use guilt
to motivate people to do things. When they suffer
conviction, that is to say, when the Holy Spirit
convicts people, and the Bible says the Holy
Spirit does do that, when they experience a feeling
of conviction, they want to change. They're encouraged
by God to be a better man or a better woman.
This people had abandoned the Lord. Oh, I hope
we're not such a people. Let us focus on God
today. Let us give credit to God today for all
that he has done. Let us have Jesus alone as
Lord today.