Awaken effortful exertion

I just finished Isaiah (as in 30 seconds ago) - I LOVE that book! Anyhow, some verses in my reading today jumped off the page.

64:7-8 No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins. Yet, O Lord, You are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

I feel like our generation needs this message. Isaiah was a prophet of salvation (his name means "the Lord saves") but he never skirted prophecies of judgment. I look around, even at a Christian college, and find too few people calling on God's name. Y'know, amazing things happen when people call on God's name, one of my favorite verses about calling on God's name is Romans 10:12;

"For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

So when no one is calling on God's name no one is being saved. If we don't cry out to God why would he listen? If we still think we can pretty much do this all on our own so we casually suggest he come save us - well, why should he listen to that? When we don't call on the Lord we make it obvious that we don't think we need Him.

To strive is "to exert oneself vigorously; to make strenuous efforts toward any goal; to contend in opposition, battle, or any conflict; compete; to struggle vigorously, as in opposition or resistance." Are we vigorously stuggling, even against opposition and conflict, to lay hold of God? I feel, for the most part, that we aren't. If any resistance comes our way we usually don't care enough about laying hold of God to resist it. Some other versions of the Bible say;

"There is no one who ... arouses himself to take hold of You" (NASB)
"No one ...makes the effort to reach out to you" (The Message)
"There is no one who... rouses himself to take hold of you" (ESV)
"And no one...awakens and bestirs himself to take and keep hold of You" (Amplified)

It's like we go through life in a deep sleep, God is asking us to stop hitting our alarm clocks and actually get out of bed, AWAKEN from our half-stupor sleep and put forth some effort into seeking Him. Let's actually kindle some desire to grab onto God.

Isaiah put forth effort into seeking God, he gave God's word to an obstinate people, but more than that, he ends up being martyred for his faith, according to Christian and Jewish tradition by being sawn in two.