Today's reading gives us a little backdrop into God's mind, it helps to understand why salvation is important, why God continues to lead us the promised land despite our obsession with the wilderness and why God's love is timeless. It's both beautiful and a little troubling, but it's also a message about us and our promises, motives, and character. But, this is the wonderful thing about scripture. What speaks to me may not be what speaks to you. Meditate on God's word and let it pierce your heart this morning. Let it guide you in your day. Share with us what sticks out to you if you like!
Scripture to Read
Audio Bible
Questions to Consider
What does this teach me about God?
What does this teach me about humanity?
What does this teach me about salvation and God's purpose for us?
- My Thoughts -
So this was a good "makes me think" scripture. I've always had a pretty basic/elementary understanding of salvation and why God saves us. God saves us because God loves us - done. But Isaiah seems to imply something different, at least in the way I understand it. Isaiah suggests that God saves us not for our sake or because we deserve it but because of God's own reputation. God wants to be known as a God of love and mercy, a God that fulfills His promises even if we make that really difficult. At first I thought this was an odd reading to hear God worry about God's reputation because why would God be worried about accountability if there are no other gods? In other words, with no one to impress, what was the point? I like the challenge of this. I want to be a person of love, but that quickly goes out the way when someone says something stupid or cuts me off in traffic. I want to be a person of generosity but am quick to be conservative with my own debts. In other words, the person I want to be is often contingent upon the attitudes and behaviors of those around me while God is who God is because that's who God wants to be - done. That's the kind of challenge I needed to start this new year. What sticks out to you?
Prayer
I can't for the life of me find a recording of this one online. So, I invite you to prayerfully read the words to hymn 120 Your Love, O God.
1 Your love, O God, is broad like beach and meadow,
wide as the wind, and our eternal home.
You leave us free to seek you or reject you,
you give us room to answer "yes" or "no."
[Refrain:]
Your love, O God, is broad like beach and meadow,
wide as the wind, and our eternal home.
2 We long for freedom where our truest being
is given hope and courage to unfold.
We seek in freedom space and scope for dreaming,
and look for ground where trees and plants can grow. (Refrain)
3 But there are walls that keep us all divided;
we fence each other in with hate and war.
Fear is the bricks and mortar of our prison,
our pride of self, the prison coat we wear. (Refrain)
4 O judge us, Lord, and in your judgment free us, and set our feet in freedom's open space; take us as far as your compassion wanders among the children of the human race. (Refrain)