Sunday 24 Jun 2018

June 24: Isaiah 56:3-8

Key Verse: Isaiah 56:5
to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever.

Devotion:
No matter how small our ‘unbelief’ is, it will rise at the most inopportune moments to throw all manner of things our way so we will be discouraged in our belief in God. God has expressly told us this will happen and that we should not drop out guard against such things. One of the most important ways of guarding against it is to make sure we mix with other Christians so we can all help each other to build up our strength. What better way than to follow God’s commandments and keep the Sabbath day holy? The way to look at it is to remember that our spiritual blessings we will get are going to be better than having sons and daughters. I cannot express just how wonderful it is to have a son and a daughter; but God has promised us our spiritual blessings are going to be far better than that!

Our sons and daughters may be the most wonderful things in our lives, but they will only last as long as either we do, or they do. All of us have a finite lifespan against which we have no power. We can extend it slightly by looking after our bodies and being careful, but there is always an end. Our spiritual blessings, on the other hand, have no end!

The closer we draw to God, the more we realise that doing His will is not grievous; there is no hardship in doing God’s will when we compare it to the blessings we will have. We can look at our children (something to look forward to for those who are young) and we can remember the good times and remember the bad times, but those bad times all seem worth it when we can hold our children in our arms. Nothing will compare to being in God’s hands in heaven! When we are reminded to keep God’s Commandments, we should look forward to doing exactly that because of the awesome blessings that lie ahead for us in heaven.

Points to Ponder:
What has been one of the highlights of your life?

Can you imagine feeling better than that - always?