Wednesday, December
28, 2016
See,
I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s
walls in ruins. Soon your descendants will come
back, and all who are trying to destroy you will go away. Look
around you and see, for all your children will come back to you. As surely as I live,” says the Lord, “they
will be like jewels or bridal ornaments for you to display. “Even
the most desolate parts of your abandoned land will soon be crowded with your
people. Your enemies who enslaved you
will be far away. The generations born in exile will return and say, ‘We need more room! It’s crowded here!’ Then you will think to yourself, ‘Who has given me all these descendants? For most of my children were killed, and the rest were carried away into exile. I was left here all alone. Where did all these people come from? Who bore these children? Who raised them for me?’” This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I will give a signal to the godless nations. They will carry your little sons back to you in their arms; they will bring your daughters on their shoulders. Kings and queens will serve you and care for all your needs. They will bow to the earth before you and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord. Those who trust in me will never be put to shame.” Isaiah 49:16-23(NLT)
will be far away. The generations born in exile will return and say, ‘We need more room! It’s crowded here!’ Then you will think to yourself, ‘Who has given me all these descendants? For most of my children were killed, and the rest were carried away into exile. I was left here all alone. Where did all these people come from? Who bore these children? Who raised them for me?’” This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I will give a signal to the godless nations. They will carry your little sons back to you in their arms; they will bring your daughters on their shoulders. Kings and queens will serve you and care for all your needs. They will bow to the earth before you and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord. Those who trust in me will never be put to shame.” Isaiah 49:16-23(NLT)
The prophet Isaiah’s voice
was mostly intended for a troubled nation caught in a downward spiral. Their national sin was immense; the nation
formed in the heart of a loving and holy God had become a stench in His
nostrils. Judgment was already on the
way; their destruction was imminent and their children would soon be carried
away by their enemies. Disaster was
their future!
Then God decided in favor of
tattoos! Really!
Well, I’m not sure that it’s
a blanket endorsement to cover your body with ink; it’s more an artistic way to
say that God’s thoughts are open and on display for anyone willing to see.
Isaiah records that God wrote
the name of His beloved Israel on the palms of His hands as a visually constant
promise that not only would the children return, brought by their penitent and
now-submissive enemies, the day would come when Israel would flourish again
when God once more would place Himself undeniably back in Israel’s focus.
An insurance company has the
slogan: The future belongs to those who prepare for it.[ii] God’s slogan, tattooed by God Himself on His
palms (long before that insurance company):
The future belongs to those who trust
in Me
For You Today
Whatever
you’ve got going on in your life that’s making the future so uncertain you can
hardly concentrate on the present…well, that may be God getting your attention.
A bit of
advice…give Him your attention.
NOTES
No comments:
Post a Comment