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Day 201, or July 20. God always knows best. Our thoughts today are rooted in Isaiah 26,

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verse 9. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.

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First the big picture surrounding this verse. Throughout their history, God's people constantly

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wandered away from the plans of God, and were always trying their own systems and being

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astonished when they failed. In the days of Isaiah the people were aware of the failure

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of the northern tribes of Israel, who had gone their own way under one bad king after

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another, before being scattered by the Assyrians, never to be seen again. You would think they

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would learn from that lesson, but they didn't, and ultimately God has them swept away by

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the Babylonians into exile, but that won't happen for about another hundred years. In

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the meantime, other prophets speak on behalf of God, but despite having some good godly

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kings, the Israelites never fully obey God's instructions, and keep on rebelling.

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And now our action step for today. Reading the Maker's instructions is usually my last

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desperate act when trying to assemble a flat pack piece of furniture. At first glance,

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the task doesn't seem that difficult, and bearing in mind millions of other people have

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achieved success, surely I won't fail. Sadly, too many of us treat life like this, and simply

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bumble along bouncing from one catastrophe to another like a little steel ball in a pinball

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machine. When Isaiah breaks into song in chapter 26, he confirms that this world works best

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when we follow the Maker's instructions. Isaiah is probably primarily referring to the last

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days when Jesus will return in judgment as he writes this chapter, but these words are

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just as appropriate today and for the rest of the intervening years until Jesus does

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return. God has made sure that we have His plan for life in the Bible. If you have tried

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the rest and found them wanting, why not always make the Bible your choice and try the Creator's

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rules for life?