Dear friends,
We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk.
You are welcome to share this and include it in your church newsletters if you wish; we just ask that you please give credit to NTC and the author. Thank you!
Isaiah 25:6-9
6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
7 And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
8 he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Devotional Thought:
Our passage depicts a great victory feast initiated by the “Lord of hosts” where “all peoples” are invited to share in the riches of God’s grace and love. We are quickly reminded that judgment, death, and destruction do not have the final word. Rather, the final word always belongs to God, and it is a word (and a reality) of hope, redemption, and restoration. “All” is emphasised five times in our short passage—all peoples (2x); all nations; all faces; all the earth. It highlights God’s desire that everyone would come and experience the joy of salvation that is only found in God. In the history of the Church, Christians have often tried to limit God’s grace and love. We have excluded those who do not look like us, act like us, or believe what we believe. Instead of swinging the doors wide open, we have closed them to but a few. Why? I am not advocating universalism here. Salvation is God’s prerogative, not ours. I am simply asking the difficult and introspective question of why we (both corporately and individually) limit God’s love and grace. Do we think we know better than God? Have we forgotten how unworthy we were/are?
While it is true that God has invited us to participate in this future bountiful feast, it is equally true that God has called us to begin the celebration today. We are called to show grace and love to everyone who crosses our path this day and every day. Maybe we need to take a more concrete approach and invite those who we might not normally interact with, into our homes for food and fellowship. In so doing, we might all catch a clearer glimpse of what is to come.
Prayer:
Lord have mercy on us. Lord forgive us. Lord help us to see others the way you do and help us to extend your grace and love rather than limit it. Lord, we pray that we might be a people of hospitality that welcomes the least of these to the table. In Christ’s holy name, Amen.
Rev Dr Rob A. Fringer
NTC Principal