The Promised One: Advent Day 13

Read & Journal

Read Isaiah 40:1-11. Use the following prompts to help you dig into what you’ve read.

• If I had to summarize these verses, what would I list as the key points?

• What does this passage teach you about God and his character?

• How do these verses point to Jesus and his mission/purpose?

• As you meditate on this Scripture, what does it reveal or teach you about yourself?

• How does this passage specifically point to John the Baptist and his role as the forerunner of Christ?

• Read verse 11 again. How has God shepherded this week? When has he carried you close to his heart? In what areas of your life do you need him to gently lead you? Spend some time in prayer, asking him to guide and direct you by his Spirit.

Ponder

The Israelites were God’s chosen people, but they had strayed so far from him, it must have seemed impossible to get back. Through the prophets, God had again and again called his people back to him, but they just kept sinning and drifting further and further away from him.

In Isaiah 43, God made his intentions clear. He was going to rescue his people. It wasn’t dependent on anything they could do or say. It wasn’t about their own innate goodness or ability to do what was right. Out of his own character, goodness, righteousness and power, God would rescue his people—and he was more than able to do it.

Clear the way, make a straight path—God is coming to rescue his people. Fill the valleys, level the mountains, straighten the curves—nothing can keep him from those he loves. He will overcome every obstacle; he will make a way where there is no way. Shout the good news: your God is coming.

And maybe the best news—especially for those of us who have recognized the depth and ugliness of our own sin—is that God wasn’t coming in judgment and anger. He was coming to his people with mercy and love, coming to care for their deepest needs, even the ones they couldn’t bring themselves to say out loud or admit.

The salvation God has promised and provided in Jesus isn’t one of condemnation or doing better. It’s one of rest, resting in what Christ has already done. “He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in His arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead. . .” (v. 11).

Jesus doesn’t come with condemnation but with love and compassion. He knows the depth of your sin—and the depth of your need. He wants to care for you, to carry you, to lead you.

Let him.