Daily Devotion, December 28, 2020

 

Devotion: Read Isaiah 43:1-5a. 

The OT book of Isaiah is really three books in one. In the first part, Chapters 1-39, the prophet Isaiah warns the southern kingdom of Judah to repent or face punishment in exile for their disobedience. Chapters 40-55 were written during the exile in Babylon, and Chapters 56-66 after the exile. Our passage today is in the second part and was written to the exiles in Babylon. They were living as refugees and slaves in Babylon because they had turned away from God. One might think that God would have turned away from the exiles, given up on them, and perhaps sent a prophet to make their time in Babylon even more painful than it already was.

But instead God sent a message of comfort and hope to the exiles. In our passage for today, God assured them that God has redeemed them, and they are God’s. God promises to be with them, using phrases like “when you pass through the waters, I will be with you,” which may have been a reminder of God’s salvation of Israel at the Red Sea. God is still “the Lord your God!” How reassuring this must have been to those exiles, torn from their homeland and forced to serve in a foreign land. How reassuring these words are for us! We are precious in God’s sight. Personal Worship Option: Give thanks today for God’s abiding, never-ending love. In this season of Christmas, give thanks for the gift of Christ to the world, to each of us, and for the hope and assurance wrapped in that gift.