Come on! Be reasonable! Have you ever had anyone say that to you? Well, when things aren’t reasonable, things aren’t right!
God wants us to reason with Him about our sinful condition. That’s what Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 1:18. He says, “Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.” Can you imagine a conversation with God in which He asks you to reason with Him?
“Let us reason together” is one word in the Hebrew text. In the reciprocal sense, this verb means “to argue with someone; to dispute an issue.” The primary meaning of the word, however, is “to be right; to be correct.”
You see, God is not really arguing with us as though we have a chance of convincing Him of our point of view. In the previous verses, God has just told the people of Israel that they are a very sinful people, and now He is simply saying, I want you to be reasonable about the fact that I am right in this assessment of your condition. The good news was that He also wanted them to understand that they could be forgiven of their sins if they would repent. It is in this sense that God wanted to reason with them.
Recently I was correcting my grandson with regard to something he had done wrong. But he was having a hard time accepting the idea that what he had done was wrong. So I said to him, “All right, I want you to think now. Let me explain it to you so you understand clearly what I am saying.” In essence I was saying to him, “Here’s what you did – and here’s why it was wrong.” Now that’s what God is saying: “Come now, I want you to agree with me that what you have done is wrong. Let’s reason together about your sin and about my willingness to forgive you.”
Listen, God says you’re a sinner. Think about it – be reasonable. He’s right!