Isaiah 58:9-14 (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 58:9-14 on biblegateway.com
Verse 9Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, Verse 10if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. Verse 11The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Verse 12Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.
Verse 13If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs; Verse 14then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Devotion
Today we do not have to look far to see and hear of injustices. Isaiah is calling to us, as the people of his day, to live as God’s children. The people of Isaiah’s day performed the compulsory rituals, they observed the Sabbath, went to the temple. They seemed to observe the “law,” but in reality lived lives with hearts that were empty.
Is Christ truly in my heart, today? Do I speed up on the way home from church, so as to not allow someone to merge into the highway, or do I slow down and change lanes to let them in? Do we perceive persons in need, yet ignore them or fail to help in any way that we can?
Isaiah’s message is a call to all of us to take a look inward and see what is truly in our hearts. Is God’s love shining through me in action?
Prayer
Lord, help me to unharden my heart and let your love shine through. Only then can I make your Sabbath my own. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
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