O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: – Isaiah 48:18, Amplified Bible (AMP)

Imagine that you are six years old, and it’s Christmas time. You’ve asked for a lot of things for Christmas, but there is one thing your heart longs for more than any other: a new bicycle. You just KNOW that you are going to get one for Christmas, and you know this because you saw mom and dad taking the bicycle out of the car when they brought it home. Christmas morning arrives. You heart is racing. The anticipation is about to make you explode. You see and open a ton of presents, but you keep looking over your shoulder to see if mom or dad is sneaking up on you with your bicycle in tow.  Nothing. Finally, you can’t stand it anymore, so you blurt out, “Mom! Dad! Didn’t I get a bicycle for Christmas?” They both look at you with a sad face and respond, “Yes, honey, you did. But you disrespectfully disobeyed us in the matter of X, and until you learn how to behave properly in that matter, you can’t have your bicycle.” The gift was yours for the taking, but your disobedience prevented you from enjoying it.

In Isaiah 48:17-19, God (through Isaiah) reminds us that, because of our disobedience, we lose out on the greatest of His gifts. Thanks to their disregard for God’s commandments, the Israelites lost out on two wonderful gifts: peace and a growing, prosperous country. Like the Israelites, we, too, will lose out on God’s great gifts of peace and prosperity – both individually and nationally – when we choose to follow our own path rather than God’s. It’s as if God has gift-wrapped these two, sweet possessions and left them on the kitchen table with our names written on them. But then, due to our sinful indulgences, He is forced to take the gifts off of the table and put them in storage, hoping one day that we’ll get our acts together so that He can give us the joy He so greatly desires to share.

What gifts are you leaving on the table? What sins do you find more lovely than God’s peace, prosperity, and fellowship? Whatever they are, realize that the temporary pleasure of sin is nothing compared to the everlasting pleasure that comes with God’s eternal gifts!