Come Lord Jesus
11 December 2018
If you are feeling tired and/or sad today, I recommend you take the morning off (I’m sure your boss will understand…) and read Isaiah chapters 40 to 55.
It’s a prophetic declaration of the restoration of Israel following the years of exile in Babylon. It is one the most optimistic and uplifting pieces of literature ever written.
Today’s first reading from chapter 40 sets the scene:
A voice cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness
a way for the Lord.
Make a straight highway for our God
across the desert.
Let every valley be filled in,
every mountain and hill be laid low.
Let every cliff become a plain,
and the ridges a valley;
then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed
and all mankind shall see it;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’
Exhausted from climbing up mountains in your personal or professional life? Worried and anxious about the emotional valleys you have struggled through this year? Well the valleys are being filled in and the mountains are about to be laid low. The glory of the Lord is about to be revealed. God is coming to save you.
Here is the Lord coming with power,
his arm subduing all things to him.
The prize of his victory is with him,
his trophies all go before him.
He is like a shepherd feeding his flock,
gathering lambs in his arms,
holding them against his breast
and leading to their rest the mother ewes.
Such a powerful image!
Are you a hungry lamb searching for the shepherd? A tired mother ewe needing a place of rest? Well the Lord is on His way. The darkness is ending and the light is breaking in. Soon and very soon a baby will be born in a stable.