Isaiah 55:6

Isaiah 55:6 says, Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:  Isaiah said the people of Israel, and those everywhere for that matter, needed to call on God while He was near and could be found.  Actually, God always calls out to people to come to Him, and we just need to respond when He is calling us. Then, He is near and can be found, but if we refuse to listen when He calls, He may one day quit calling, and if He does, then He cannot be found.  We don’t find God, but He finds us. 

Verse seven adds, Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.  If we are to have a personal relationship with God, we must forsake our wicked ways and even give up our unrighteous thoughts.  We have to change from our sinful nature and start to be guided by the righteous leadership of the Holy Spirit.  When we do this, accepting the gift of salvation, we return to a right relationship with God, not through our own righteousness, but through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  Then, the Heavenly Father will have mercy on us and abundantly pardon us.  He does not just pardon some sins, but He pardons all sins, past, present, and future. 

Verse eight continues, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.  God said that His thoughts are not the thoughts of mankind, nor are His ways the ways of mankind.  Our thoughts will always be so much less than the thoughts of God.  Our thoughts are still limited to finite things even when we are thinking about God.  We try to describe Who He is in earthly terms, but God sees from the heavenly perspective.  We could not conceive of a salvation plan that required the death of our son, but God made a plan of redemption that consisted of His only begotten Son dying for sinful people. 

Verse nine concludes, For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.  God made the analogy of the heavens being higher than the earth to compare His thoughts to mankind’s thoughts.  We may think that the earth is a special place, but when compared to the rest of the universe, it is but a small dot.  That is how much higher God’s thoughts are to the thoughts of people.  Our thoughts are but a small dot when compared to God’s, even if we are the most intelligent person in the world.