April 29, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61.10)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

How shall we respond to what God says He will do as we put our trust in Him alone? This doesn’t mean we will not trust in others. It means that our trust is measured by our relationship with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Before Jesus walked in Israel from north to south and all parts in between, Israel had the Word of God as the “law of the lives.” It was the descriptor of righteousness so that God’s people would see it when they could see nothing else. What does that mean for them and for us? It means that we live according to the “law of the Lord” which is “the word of God.” In respect to all leaders and rulers of these ages, we shall honor them not blindly but with prayer and admonition. We shall let the world know of the word of God which is the law of the Lord. We shall not fashion it to meet our needs and wants. We shall allow it to fashion us to meet the needs of the day and know that with God it is possible to do. How then shall we respond to what God says He will do? With prayer, praise and humility we shall walk in the way of the will of God.

More than that, we shall live according to what God has done and not simply what God will do. This is what we often tend to forget as we do our “want and need” inventory. We reduce the remembrance of how He has brought us to this point. We miss the interventions God brought into our lives to keep us from greater harm and danger. We miss the places where grace appeared and the peace which surpasses all understanding filled the moment. It may have been just a moment. A moment may have been all we needed. We may have wanted more and desired greater, yet God knew exactly what was needed to strengthen and encourage us. As we look at verse 10 today, there is something more that we may not have considered. It reflects back to when God met us in “our” defeated state. Hiding among the sycamore fig trees, Adam and Eve took the large leaves and sought to cover their nakedness. Trust me, they did not cover themselves from head to toe with a suit of leaves. They may have more likely simply manipulated the leaves and branches to hide what made them distinctly male and female. They were ashamed of what God had made them. They had become aware of their differences and awakened to their intimacies. The fig tree, however, did not hide them nor protect them. Their attempts at camouflage failed. They were distinct creatures with a nature and appearance different from all others. The same was discovered by Zaccheus who climbed a sycamore fig tree to he could see Jesus. He did not intend to be seen. Perhaps children had climbed the branches as well for the very same reason. Zaccheus was not a child. He did not speak as a child. He did not think as a child. He did not act as a child. His actions, however, were not godly nor honoring as a tax collector for the Romans whom he equally defrauded for his own welfare. He was revealed. Jesus saw him. Jesus saw him for who God intended and called him into accountability with the “word of God and the law of the Lord.”

In the word of God by the law of the Lord given to Isaiah, it is revealed how God sees His people. They are not “Jews,” in particular, although the context would intimate that. But literally God sees them as male and female, husband and wife, priest and minister. They are covered, first and foremost with garments of salvation over which is found a robe of righteousness. In context, they are as a bridegroom and a bride set in place as the community of priests and ministers which God mentions in verse 6 as part of the Jubilee, The Year of the Lord’s Favor. Mighty ones of God, there can be no doubt as to what God has purposed for His people, those who are called by His Name and those who call upon His Name. It is always seen in the context of the marriage contract and agreement for the purpose of building up the community of faith in God. That community is exclusive only in regard to the blessing of salvation for all people. It is inclusive in its effort to share “the word of God as the law of the Lord” which is based in righteousness. We must stand and promote this image and this mission. It is the one to which we are called and the one which God blesses mightily.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness which we know is folly but righteous works which declare Your glory and further witness the truth that can set all who believe free from death. So may we live by the name of Jesus our Christ. AMEN.