[The LORD] said, “Surely they are My people, sons who will not be false to Me”; and so He became their Savior. Isaiah 63:8
You don’t have to read very far into the first books of the Bible to learn that the people of Israel did not live up to God’s expectations. The Lord Himself says as much just a couple sentences later in Isaiah 63. But that is one of the wonderful lessons of the Old Testament – God does not choose His people because they are any better or worse than others. God chooses them because they need a Savior.
God knows that we need a Savior, too, so He became that Savior for us in Jesus. Jesus accomplished our salvation for us, but we have not yet become those completely true and holy people. Instead, we live by faith, trusting that what God has begun in us will be brought to its completion when Christ returns (see Philippians 1:6).
The Israelites lived by faith, too, just as we do. But when they began to think that they were above such humilities, God called them to repentance through prophets like Isaiah. It’s good for all of us to remember that we will never outgrow the need to repent of our sin as long as we live. God does not tire of forgiveness. Christ will return and make us to be the holy people God wants us to be; but until that time we live by faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Thank you Lord, Jesus, for the righteous healing that You bring through the gift of Your forgiveness that takes away the burdens of our sin. Amen.
© 2006 Lutheran Hour Ministries
These devotions have been written by Rev. Paul and Kaye Wolff. Rev. Paul Wolff is a 1996 graduate of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. He has served as a pastor in the Detroit area for 10 years. He and co-author wife, Kaye, live in Southfield, Michigan.
Kaye Dumas Wolff is Chairperson of the Black Ministry Church Planting Task Force and a Mission Affiliate of LCMS World Missions where she serves as a training facilitator for laity in evangelism and mission work. Kaye serves on the Advisory Council of the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, and she is a presenter for Lutheran Hour Ministries’ Equipping to Share Workshop.
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Today's Bible Readings: Genesis 10-12 Matthew 4
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