Daily Reading // Isaiah 56:1-12
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 56:6-7 6 "Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, And to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants-- Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant-- 7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices [Will be] accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations."
Today, ancestry is a big deal. There are services that help you find your ancestry roots. They also help you find long lost relatives. In Isaiah’s day that service wasn’t needed. Everyone knew their place of origin.
Another word for ancestry is race. That’s a pretty hot topic these days. Is one race favored above another? Does one group get special privileges? Is everything fair or unfair?
God makes it clear in this passage. Anyone from any ethnic background who joins themself to the Lord are 100% accepted by Him. There is no ‘included’ and ‘excluded’. There is no superior race. God, His house and prayer are available to all nations.
When I read this passage, I can’t help but think about Jesus cleansing the Temple. His most violent act. His most controversial and political move during His earthly ministry. From this time forward the chief priests and Pharisees decided to kill Him. What was that extreme and dangerous act all about?
It wasn’t about the tables He overturned. I once had someone ask me, “Pastor, how can you have tables in the church when Jesus overturned the tables in the Temple?” It wasn’t about the tables.
When Jesus cleansed the Temple He quoted this very passage from Isaiah. “For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” The things the religious people were doing were making it difficult, if not impossible, for people of other ethnic groups to participate. There were additional obstacles in the way. That does not reflect the heart of God.
God loves, without restriction, the ‘sons of the foreigner’. Do I?
RESPOND // ORATIO
Pray in response to what the Lord has spoken to you.
Jesus, You showed Your passion for all nations, tribes and tongues. Give me Your passionate attitude toward all. Heal the racial divide in our land. It doesn’t represent You. Amen.
Tomorrow’s reading -> Isaiah 57:1-13