Scripture: Isaiah 61:10-62:3 (NRSV)
DEVOTIONAL:
In a few days, we will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Isaiah reminds us to loudly praise God in all we do because it’s only through God’s glory that Jesus was sent into the world as our salvation.
The passage continues to relate this salvation to a growing seed. Jesus is the soil that starts the garden. We are the seeds that need to grow. Yet, we are not “just another seed.” We each are so precious to God. As we work to find our gifts, our beauty and our voices for praise, God cradles us and holds us close like precious gems. We are not hidden in the dirt. We are not silent.
The first time I read the passage, I thought about it with a question in mind: What is God saying to me? The first paragraph comes from that, which I think is important to remember. As I continued to think about the passage, however, I also started thinking about it in the sense of God saying it to others.
So, today as you read the Scripture, I encourage you to think of God telling you how much you are loved. I also want to urge you to think further. Think about those people you’d rather not be around, think about those people who annoy you, and think about the people whom society rejects and deems “not normal.” They are also gems in God’s hands; they are just as loved and cherished, wrapped in the same salvation, the same love and the same soil.
Scripture: Isaiah 61:10-62:3 (NRSV)
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
62For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. 2The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. 3You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.