Isaiah 2:1-5 (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 2:1-5 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 2The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Verse 2In days to come the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Verse 3Many peoples shall come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Verse 4He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Verse 5O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
Devotion
“Think big!” My father used to always say. “Take a step back and look at the bigger picture,” my mother often reminds me. “Vision” is a word that gets used a lot these days in numerous settings. “Vision” is the “big picture.”
The holy work of daily life sometimes gets us entrenched and it becomes easy, for one reason or another, to forget the bigger picture. When we forget, we can become lost, wander and eventually lose hope.
Isaiah offers a vision of God’s bigger picture. Despite the current realities of Israel there is something bigger God has in-store. God has a future beyond what can be imagined or embedded with hope and peace.
Today we are reminded in the midst of our lives that there is a bigger picture, God’s faithfulness which gives hope to the world and to us.
Prayer
God, sometimes we lose the big picture of your love and faithfulness. In the midst of daily living, help me to remember your vision, your faithfulness and your love, which brings hope to the world. Amen.