Year 6, Day 24: Isaiah 40

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Challenge

• Challenge: God does not merely wish us to be in relationship with Him as we are.  He challenges us to grow, stretch, and transform as we take on the mantle of being His representatives to this world.

So often we hear the words of Isaiah 40 echoed at the time of Christmas.  “Prepare the way of the Lord!  Make straight His highway in the desert!”  We often associate them with John the Baptizer.  But they are originally words given to Isaiah to call to the people in the time of persecution.

But as much as we have turned them into words of comfort, we forget that they are actually words of challenge!  That’s why they are so properly associated with John the Baptizer, too!  These are words that challenge us to change.  These are words that challenge us to become different people.  These are words that challenge us to accept that the Lord – or at the very least, His grace – is coming to us.  We don’t earn it, He gives it to us for free.  We are to prepare for its coming.

This is why the verses that follow these are so focused on human beings like grass when compared to God.  Grass fades every season.  Compared to the lifespan of a human, grass lives such a short growing season.  So are we to God.  He is the great one.  He is the eternal one.  He is the giver, we are the recipients.

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