LIVING HOPE - Reading With the People of God: Part 18ಮಾದರಿ

Enduring Promise

"And now the Lord says, He who formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him—for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength—He says: 'It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth'” (Isaiah 49: 5-6 ESV).

Here the prophet Isaiah is attesting to God’s sovereign will and mighty power. He raised up the nation Israel to be His servant, to manifest God’s nature as He disciplines them for their sins, yet comforts them in their suffering, looking to their future restoration.

Such is our hope as we meander through life with diminishing physical strength, battling our sin, yet learning to endure such challenges with our eyes looking to our shepherd whose love for us and for all the world remains steadfast.

"So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek" (Hebrew 6: 17-20. ESV).

Although we live in troubling times, we can choose to live joyfully and confidently for we have been given a great gift–the promise of His abiding presence with us both now and forevermore; a blessing given by Christ, priest of the Most High, who paid for our reservation at His Father’s table.

Primer contributed by Drek Beardsley.