Devotion - Thursday, December 9

I am reading through Isaiah, which is appropriate, given all the Advent and Christmas texts which are taken from this book. But those passages are relatively few, when you consider all of Isaiah's sixty chapters. Between the passages which are so familiar, there are a lot of references to Kingdoms and rulers which are unknown. And yet, as you read of them, you realize that they were well known (and feared) by Isaiah's original readers.

Isaiah 7 speaks of two such rulers, who planned to wage war against Jerusalem. At this, "(David's) heart and the heart of his people shook as trees of the forest shake before the wind."

Isaiah is sent to the House of David, to assure them that these invading Kings are of no real consequence. "Within sixty-five years (they) will be broken to pieces so that it will no longer be a people."

The House of David, on the other hand, has lasted till this very day.

Without intending to whimsically dismiss that which oppresses or threatens us, I would draw a lesson here about that which is lasting and that which is temporary. So often, we are shaken, like trees before the wind, forgetting that we are rooted in that which is everlasting. We are indeed threatened and pressed upon, but we are also assured that we do not face our adversary alone.

Granted, sixty-five years seems like a long time to wait for things to change. Let us hope and pray that our wait would not be as long as that of Jerusalem. But when one considers the whole of Jerusalem's history, sixty-five years is a small portion.

Final exams will end (tomorrow in fact.) The college years will pass. The person you are becoming will be with you for all of your days.

Affiliations with groups (including Lutheran Student Movement) will pass. You will change your address and get a different cell phone number. As a baptized child of God, you will always wear the cross of Christ upon your forehead.

As you pass through the events and occurrences of your life cling to the ones which place you in line with the familiar promises of God's grace and God's goodness. These are the things which will remain with you, as you look back on the months and years of your life.