Wednesday after Jubilate
Posted on April 28, 2021 by under
Scripture: Isaiah 66:10-14 (NKJV)
66:10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you who love her; Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her;
11 That you may feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her bosom, that you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.”
12 For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then you shall feed; On her sides shall you be carried, and be dandled on her knees.
13 As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”
14 When you see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like grass; The hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants, and His indignation to His enemies.
Devotion
“The hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants, and His indignation to His enemies.”
We do not merit the benevolent hand of the Lord because we are better than His enemies. We know that He is good and forgiving because faith makes us able to know it! His Holy Spirit creates faith in us so that we may see the hand of Almighty God in all things and rejoice in His mercy. The Lord is still kind to His enemies. They still receive food and clothing and many other blessings. The difference is that they have no faith. They resist His Spirit so that they take His creation for granted and attribute its goodness to wrong sources. God has a right to be indignant against those who ignore and reject Him.
However, His faithful people should never forget that we were once His enemies. We are His servants by His grace, not by our own virtue. So the work of the Church continues to be preaching, teaching, faithfully partaking of the Sacraments, loving, and serving, so that others may be blessed by His Word and Spirit. Through His Church He continues to extend His hand, because He desires that other enemies might become children of His Kingdom and be saved!
Prayer: Almighty God, who showest to them that be in error the light of Thy truth to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness, grant unto all them that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s religion that they may avoid those things that are contrary to their profession and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; 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.
