Isaiah 52:7-8 (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 52:7-8 on biblegateway.com
Verse 7How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns." Verse 8Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy; for in plain sight they see the return of the Lord to Zion.
Devotion
One Bible commentator suggests what precedes these verses is “Tensely, all creation awaits word of God’s decisive victory.” After which all creation gives a huge collective sigh, letting out the breath they’ve been holding and singing for joy. When I am the recipient of grace and forgiveness in times I feel I don’t deserve them, I too let out a huge sigh and sing for joy. In those moments, I am reminded of the gracious forgiveness I have already received from the God incarnate in the Christ child. Without this grace, my life would be paralyzed by the knowledge that I can never truly live the life of love I want to. My gratitude for these profound gifts of grace is, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer has written, “ … transformed into a thank offering back to God from whom it came … I translate my thanks for gifts I have received into a sincere changing of my ways and into active love.”
Prayer
Gracious God, we thank and praise you for your steadfast, eternal, life-giving love. Amen.