What current events in the media
just now worry you? I will not seek to
bring my personal observations to bear regarding these, but I too have such
worries. I have wondered if Scripture
speaks clearly to them. In my daily
devotions, this did…
“I say, Here I am! Here I am!
To a nation that did not call upon my name. I have stretched out my hands all the day to
a rebellious people who walk in evil paths and follow their own thoughts—people
who provoke me continually to my face.” (Isaiah 65:1-3)
God, talking through God’s servant
Isaiah thousands of years ago, may have a word for us as well. “I
say, Here I am! Here I am!” This is a word to boost our spirits
and make our conscience free. It
suggests that the number one expectation God has of us is to “call upon God’s
name”. How? We pray.
We discipline ourselves in private devotions. But even more important is to worship
God. That is what calling on God’s name
is, worshipping God, in God’s house, on God’s day of rest. When we gather to worship God, not only do we
place ourselves in God’s presence, but we allow God’s will and ways to
influence our thoughts about the issues of the day, even when they are as
complex as our current issues are. So
come to worship. God calls us to
worship. God says to each and every one
of us, “I say, Here I am! Here I am!”
Next, we hear of God stretching out God’s hands all
the day. It tells us God takes the initiative.
If you or I were to try to stretch out our hands all the day long, we
could not do it. God has the strength and the tone and whatever else is needed to bridge
whatever gap we have allowed to happen between God and us, no matter what path
we have wandered down, no matter what kinds of thoughts we have followed.
Picture God stretching out God’s hands to us, as far
as God can, all the day long, and not just to us, but to all the people God has
made. Even to those who are walking in
truly evil paths, to those who are following only their own thoughts, to those
who provoke God continually to God’s face.
To each one, God says, “I say, Here I am! Here I am!”
God goes to whatever
lengths it takes to reach the ones God loves.
And God urges those whom God reaches, to do likewise.
If you form the mental picture of
God extending God’s hands all the day long for all of us, and all of these,
then you soon form one particular picture, the mental image of our Lord Jesus
Christ, upon the cross, with His arms extended for everyone, everywhere in
every time and season. “I say, Here I am! Here I am!”
Jesus loves the world that much.
Jesus loves those we love that much and Jesus loves those we don’t love
that much. By any stretch of the imagination, we find that Jesus is the only
One who can reach that far, to everyone for all eternity. “I say, Here I am! Here I am!”
‘See
you in church,
John
A. Dalles, Pastor
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