READING: Isaiah 1:21-5:30
How much I look forward to the day when God restores all things and we enter into His presence for eternity! It’s great to think about that day, but it’s also humbling and amazing that God has chosen to put into place a plan for restoring a sinful and fallen world that rejected Him.
In that day, the “Branch of the Lord” (likely the Messiah, though scholars debate the meaning of this word) will be “beautiful and glorious” (Isa 4:2), and the harvest will be plentiful. The curse on creation that occurred when sin entered the story will end, and abundance will be evident. Those who reside there will be holy, not because of their innate goodness, but because the Lord has written their names in the book, washed away their filth (a translated word that can also mean vomit or dung), and cleansed them from their wrong. The Spirit will judge, but He will also purify God’s people in the process.
You and I, too, are God’s children only because He has written our names in the book of life, washed away the “vomit” of our lives, and cleansed our souls. The story from beginning to end, from eternity to eternity, is about grace.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Do you know for certain you are God’s child today?
DAILY PRAYER: “Lord, all I can do is kneel in wonder. Your grace is amazing.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 2 Kings 16:19-20, 2 Chronicles 28:26-27, Isaiah 13:1-16:14