April 6, 2001
But the man who makes me his refuge
will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain."
Isaiah 57:13b
This verse ends of a challenging section in Isaiah... it continues God's warning to the wicked from the previous chapter. In the first two verses he is challenging the Israelites for not being concerned by the loss of spiritual men in their day. There was a time of persecution under which many godly men died and the nation wasn't concerned about this loss. From verses 3-13a he rebukes them for prostituting themselves before their idols in the hopes that they would be saved from trouble. In the first part of verse 13 he tells them what will happen when they reach out to their idols.. " the wind will carry them off". They won't, they cannot be there for them! The answer, the hope they sought is found in the above verse and is still a truth for us to hold onto today.. no matter what is going on, no matter what is troubling us, no matter how bad we've blown it, no matter how confusing or overwhelming life gets.. if we hold onto God, and God alone... he will bring us through. If we hold onto him we are assured of the favor and friendship of God!! What else is there in life....