Thursday after the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on August 26, 2021 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
You and I live in the “sandwich” of time. Others call it the “now but not yet.” In the Apostles’ Creed, we live after the part that says “He sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,” and before the next part that says “from thence He will come to judge the quick and the dead.”
Isaiah gives us words of great comfort when he says “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing.” Certainly, we can use these words as hope for the future, when Christ returns and brings with Him a new heaven and new earth. But in our current state, the tentacles of sin have wrapped themselves around everything and everyone. Therefore, all of us should long for the days ahead when all our troubles—both from without and from within—will cease.
But even now, there are still treasures to enjoy. Christ has not only abolished sin, but He delivers forgiveness for that sin on a regular basis. Through His ever-present Means of Grace we have relief from the sins that so burden us. That realization should cause our blind eyes to see, our ears to open, and our lips to show forth His praise. Salvation unto us has come!
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.
