Daily Reading // Isaiah 52:1-15
READY // SILENCIO
Take a moment to quiet your mind and prepare your heart for your time with the Lord.
READ // LECTIO
Read the passage above up to three times aloud. Allow yourself to feel the words as they are read.
REFLECT // MEDITATIO
Now direct your focus on the words, phrases concepts or sentences that got your attention. What is God speaking to you today through His word?
Isaiah 52:3 For thus says the LORD: "You have sold yourselves for nothing, And you shall be redeemed without money."
My dad used to say, “Some people have to be paid to be good. Other people are good for nothing.” I love my dad’s dad-sayings.
God was recounting a bit of Israel’s history and their current dilemma. It’s because they sold themselves short. They didn’t see their own value and they let others push them around.
As my dad would say, they were good for nothing.
Even though they didn’t see their own value, God did. Even though they sold themselves short, God placed a value higher than can be imagined.
You shall be redeemed without money.
I was watching a show called American Pickers. Guys would go out into people’s sheds and garages and buy from them stuff that had just been laying around. One of the guys found something he was very interested in, and asked the guy what he would sell it for. The guy gave him a price. He hesitated for just a minute then offered the guy much more than he asked for. That normally doesn’t happen.
The picker said the owner didn’t realize the value of what he had. He would pay, not the low price that was asked for it, but it’s actual value. Of course, the guy making the deal was very happy.
We undervalue ourselves, but God doesn’t. He paid the highest price possible to redeem us. Not with money, but with something far more precious - the life of His Son.
Don‘t value yourself by your own estimation, use God’s estimation instead.
RESPOND // ORATIO
Pray in response to what the Lord has spoken to you.
Father, Help me to know Your estimation for me and not undervalue myself. Amen.
Tomorrow’s reading -> Isaiah 53:1-12
“Humbly confident” - I like that!
If I think about the self confidence I'm able to muster from my own achievements/ conquests and compare that to the confidence that comes from seeing myself as God sees me, I realize how brittle and fickle is the former and how durarable and unbreakable is the latter. Being "humbly confident" is not an oxymoron. I am humbled by His estimation of me and that gives me great confidence. It's a very effective way to live. Our friend Franks' favorite quote is "How would your life be different if you saw yourself as God sees you." Thank you Jim for reminding me of my value in the eyes of God. Now to ponder and pray how to use myself.