Thursday after the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on August 31, 2023 by under
Scripture: Isaiah 35:5-10 (NKJV)
35:5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.
7 The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; In the habitation of jackals, where each lay, there shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
8 A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray.
9 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; It shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there,
10 and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Devotion
“A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, But it shall be for others.”
Isaiah speaks to the faithful in exile. He spoke the Law, warning Israel that God’s judgment was coming and that they would go into exile. But he also speaks words of comfort to those thus punished and driven to repentance. He tells of deliverance from these days of bondage, but then goes beyond that. This deliverance from bondage in Babylon becomes a picture of the still greater deliverance that the faithful will have from the fallenness of this world.
The Lord, through Isaiah, speaks of “the Highway of Holiness,” the way of entry into eternal life. He says “the unclean shall not pass over it.” However, are we not all unclean sinners? Can we “clean up” enough to qualify? By nature, no. The prophet clarifies: “The redeemed shall walk there.” Admission to the Highway of Holiness comes not by our own works of self cleansing (Isaiah has harsh words for those who would think this way!). Rather, it is the redeeming work of God that gets us there. This redemption is ours by way of Him who “was wounded for our transgressions” and “bruised for our iniquities,” even Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of Israel and the Savior of the Nations.
Prayer: Almighty and Merciful God, of Whose only gift it cometh that Thy faithful people do unto Thee true and laudable service: Grant, we beseech Thee, that we may so faithfully serve Thee in this life, that we fail not finally to attain Thy heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
