Focus
Slow your breathing and become aware of the taking in and letting out of your breath. Focus on putting things aside so you will be open to what God is saying to you today.
Read
The Righteous Reign of the Coming King
9 But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
2 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
3 You have multiplied exultation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.
4 For the yoke of their burden
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors
and all the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders,
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Great will be his authority,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Reflect
Isaiah is full of imagery. I wonder what those who read this text long ago thought about as they were reading. Most likely, they were exiled to Babylon. They wanted to be home; they wanted their own country; they wanted to go back to the way it was before the exile. So this message was a message of hope for them. They could imagine a day when peace would be the characteristic that defined their lives. They could taste it.
We today can experience this in our own lives through faith in Jesus Christ. The child that was born so long gives us a path to peace and freedom. When we follow Christ, we encounter trouble and travesty, but we also have a deep-seated peace that overcomes our fear, sorrow, and anxieties. This message in Isaiah then, is a message of hope for us as well, but it also is a message of frustration.
I often work with people who are not of the faith. It saddens me that they run around building their lives on sand. They believe that some worldly means and methods will somehow by the key to what will give them purpose and meaning and that some worldly methods will have the power to solve society’s problems. It cant, never has, and never will. I pray for the world and the people that I know. I pray that my life can be a light in the dark by which they see God and God’s messiah, Jesus Christ.
Pray
God, shine bright through your church. Use us to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Go with God.
