Wednesday after the Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 20, 2019 by under
Scripture: Isaiah 35:1-10 (NKJV)
35:1 The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;
2 It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God.
3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.
4 Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you.”
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
During His earthly ministry Christ opened the eyes of the blind, unstopped the ears of the deaf, and strengthened the feeble knees of the lame. He spoke words of consolation and forgiveness to the fearful-hearted. Physical water didn’t spring forth in the wilderness, but through the ministry of Christ living water burst forth in the world. John 7:39 says this living water is the Holy Spirit. As physical water sustains men’s earthly life, the Holy Spirit gives and sustains spiritual life within a man. Christ also called men to follow Him on the narrow path that leads to life, the highway Isaiah prophesies. No unclean thing walks this road, for those that follow Christ in faith are cleansed from every sin.
Until the Last Day, this highway will run through the wilderness of this world. The highway is the Church, for that is where sinners follow Christ on the narrow path that leads to life. In the holy Christian Church sins are richly and daily forgiven. There Christ gives living water, the Holy Spirit, through His Word and Sacraments so that the eyes of the spiritually blind are opened, the ears of the deaf are opened to hear God’s Word, and the feeble knees of the discouraged are strengthened. Until Christ returns, walk on this highway, for it is the only path by which we will enter eternal life.
We pray: O God, so rule and govern our hearts and minds by Thy Holy Spirit that, being ever mindful of the end of all things and the day of Thy just judgment, we may be stirred up to holiness of living here and dwell with Thee forever hereafter; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
