March 29, 2011

3-29-11 Tuesday, 6:02 am Springfield, 44 degrees, cloudy and calm.

I have a day full of meetings, with my discretionary time being this morning until 8:45, when I will greet the children at Kids of Creation. Yesterday was a good day at the office, an unusual Monday for me. As I look forward on my calendar, there are about three weeks where working Monday and taking Friday off will be necessary. Early in my ministry I took Fridays as my sabbath, and it worked okay. For the last four years I have developed a strong weekly routine that has made Monday my seventh day, upon which I rest. Guide me Lord as I seek to honor the sabbath.

Isaiah 62

In this chapter God tells His people that in the future they will no longer be called “forsaken”. His pet name for them (and for us) will be “My delight is in her”. Through the fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity it could have appeared that God had forsaken His people. Isaiah is writing before the captivity, and his words must have been sustaining for the faithful who believed that “the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear” (59:1).

In verse 4 the prophet refers to the land of Israel itself (in Hebrew) as “Beulah”. This is the origin of the hymn “I’m dwelling in Beulah land”. The term means married, or lived in, or possessed by. Throughout scripture the people of God are referred to as His bride, all the way into the last book of the Bible which describes the wedding feast of the lamb. It is my privilege to labor in getting the bride ready for her husband, as I work shepherding the church through this unique period of history.

As I contemplate a 4 part series of sermons on Isaiah, maybe in June, here are some possible themes:

The temptation to trust in the work of human hands rather than God.
The hope of the servant, the Messiah coming to save
The special relationship God has with His people
The plan for the salvation of the nations through the people of God

I could design daily scripture readings and small group questions. Guide me Lord in my serving, in our planning, in the work of the church, your body, your bride, your possession, bought with a price.