Isaiah 64:1-9 (NRSV)
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Chapter 64O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence- Verse 2as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil- to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence! Verse 3When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. Verse 4From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him. Verse 5You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed.
Verse 6We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. Verse 7There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity. Verse 8Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Verse 9Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people.
Devotion
Everything happens for a reason. Every time I hear that I want to throw up! Do people really believe a car accident that ends a life prematurely is the will of God? Really?!? Is that the babe of Bethlehem?
God loves us without limit. This is true. This is the Gospel. But God does not necessarily approve of everything we do. And when we do things against God's will for our lives, God becomes angry or frustrated. But the anger/frustration is not God's being, but rather it is merely the consequence of our sin. The scriptures do speak of God's anger, but more importantly, they speak of God's love as the essence of God. For God is love, and we are his beloved people.
This is the One whose coming is certain and whose day draws near for you: the God of Love, the Christ child, the babe of Bethlehem.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you claim us as your people. Guard us from the destructive power of our sinful nature and help us to live lives reflective of your claim on us for the benefit of the world.
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus.