Great Plains Daily Devotional for 12/28/2018

Isaiah 11:1-9 

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
    the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the spirit of counsel and might,
    the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
    or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
    and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

The wolf shall live with the lamb,
    the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
    and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
    and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
    on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

As a child I loved animals. I had all kinds of pets, some of which my mom wasn’t too happy about. I enjoyed the times we went to see animals in different settings. I would get excited when I saw zebras, giraffes and lions at the zoo. At the same time, I felt a little badly for them that they were in enclosures that seemed quite small compared with their size. I wished I could get closer to them and pet them. As an adult I understand the safety issues, and I now prefer nature reserves to zoos. Yet still I am fascinated by wildlife. I still get excited when I see God’s creatures in nature. I still wish I could walk with them rather than see them run or fly in fear when they see me.

Isaiah offers us a picture of a new order of things, a time when the fear and enmity which causes division among people and within God’s creation will cease. Then all creation will be in harmony. None of us will be afraid because nothing and no one will seek to harm us. Nothing and no one will be afraid of us because we will seek only good for all.

This marvelous era will come into being when Jesus returns to rule the Earth. What a hope-filled promise this is for us! What wonder it brings. Yet, this peace and harmony is not entirely in the future. Since God is its source, even now we may experience this peace and harmony in part as we surrender to God, as we allow Jesus to rule over our lives, and as we join together with God as catalysts of transformation in our world.

Prayer for Reflection

Micah 5:2-5a
Luke 1:46b-55
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-45