No End In Sight?
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, feed my mind and my spirit today with the good spiritual food from Your holy Word.
Read Isaiah 9:18-10:4
[18] Surely wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns, it sets the forest thickets ablaze, so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke. [19] By the wrath of the LORD Almighty the land will be scorched and the people will be fuel for the fire; they will not spare one another. [20] On the right they will devour, but still be hungry; on the left they will eat, but not be satisfied. Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring: [21] Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh; together they will turn against Judah. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised. [1] Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, [2] to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. [3] What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches? [4] Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
On whom is God pronouncing "woe," and for what?Note Isaiah’s refrain here (9:12,17,21; 10:4). God’s anger is still not over. And by now we are wondering just how much more anguish there will be before it is. Surely God must take pity on the people now! But a righteous God has to wait for his people to recognize their sin (10:3). It can be tempting to blame our leaders for all our problems. Certainly God’s anger was directed against the unjust law-makers and leaders of his people (10:1,2). But we must look at ourselves, too. Most of us have the privilege of living in a democracy, a far cry from the ruling system at the time of Isaiah where kings could pass unjust laws on their suffering people without a second thought. We all have our sphere of influence such as our home and family, and perhaps our work. We have to take responsibility, be accountable. And as we begin to make changes, however small, they will soon ripple out, become more significant and reach many more people. We might not all be called to be an Isaiah, but there is still plenty each one of us can do.
Apply
What can you do to make the world you live in every day a better place for those around you?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, open my eyes to the places and ways that I can have influence for You and Your purposes.
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