Daily Reading // Isaiah 38:9-22
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 38:12 My life span is gone, Taken from me like a shepherd’s tent; I have cut off my life like a weaver. He cuts me off from the loom; From day until night You make an end of me.
Hezekiah was facing his own mortality. Given a message from Isaiah the prophet that he would die from his illness, he had to wrestle with death in a very real way. Was he ready for death? Was he done with life? He faced the same issue we all face at one time or another.
He uses a couple of interesting images. One is a shepherds tent. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (along with many others) were nomadic. They lived in tents. This is perhaps one of the strongest threads throughout the old and new testaments. We are nomads on this earth. We’re just passing through.
The other image Hezekiah uses is the weaver cutting something from the loom. I can imagine a weaver beginning a project on a loom. Plans are made. Colors of wool spun into yarn are added one by one with precision. The tapestry begins to take shape, but it’s not done yet. A bit more is needed here and there. Patiently the weaver perfects and finally finishes the beautiful tapestry. One thing remains - cutting it from the loom. It wasn’t made for the loom. The loom was just a tool to prepare it for its real intended purpose. Having been thus prepared it must be cut from the loom, the only place it’s ever known.
We are nomads in this life, just passing through. This purpose of this life is to prepare us for something else. Once prepared we move into our real home and our real purpose.
I was not made for the loom.
RESPOND // ORATIO
Pray in response to what the Lord has spoken to you.
Jesus, I have confidence in eternity because of You. Continue the work You are still doing in me. I trust You on the loom and beyond the loom. Amen.
Tomorrow’s reading -> Isaiah 39:1-8