Isaiah 65:1-9 (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 65:1-9 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 65I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, "Here I am, here I am," to a nation that did not call on my name. Verse 2I held out my hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; Verse 3a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and offering incense on bricks; Verse 4who sit inside tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat swine's flesh, with broth of abominable things in their vessels; Verse 5who say, "Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you." These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all day long. Verse 6See, it is written before me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their laps Verse 7their iniquities and their ancestors' iniquities together, says the Lord; because they offered incense on the mountains and reviled me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their actions.
Verse 8Thus says the Lord: As the wine is found in the cluster, and they say, "Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it," so I will do for my servants' sake, and not destroy them all. Verse 9I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah inheritors of my mountains; my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall settle there.
Devotion
There is something in the human heart that makes us yearn to be wanted, to be found, to be desired, to feel loved. But even in the playground of early years, so many of us can remember a time when we didn't connect. Playing hide and seek when the seeker left and went home. Listening to sounds on the playground, hoping desperately that someone would call, "Come and play with us!" Watching our co-workers plan a lunch out, as if we didn't exist. Waiting to hear from a former buddy who promised to stay in touch.
Here we glimpse a God with the same longing. For us. Waiting to be noticed: "Here I am, here I am." Wanting to be "sought out." Yearning for us to know God's love.
Prayer
Dear God, I cry out to be important to someone and there you are, wanting so much to be important to me. You are! Stay close to me. Remind me that when we are far apart, I am the one who has moved. Amen.