Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.
Isaiah 40:1,2
Going Home
Daily Devotion – December 16, 2023
Devotion based on Isaiah 40:1,2
See series: Devotions
The POW labor camp wore him down day after day. How long would the warfare continue? How long before he returned home? Would his hard service ever end?
And then the day finally came. What comfort to hear the war had ended! What comfort to hear that he was heading home! What comfort to be in the embrace of his family again!
Sin took the world prisoner, including our own heart and soul. How much must we do to make up for our wrongs? How hard must we labor to make things right?
We could elevate the peaks of our pride by convincing ourselves that our best efforts will get us through. We could trust in the advancements of humanity to eventually smooth out the world’s problems. We could face the harsh meaninglessness of life and live for the thrill of each day until we sink into the depths and want it all to end.
Don’t follow those paths. Yes, our lives dry up like grass and even our greatest glories are like flowers that wither in the wind. But one thing does last. One thing remains sure and certain: “The word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8).
God’s says that your sin has been paid for. That’s why God’s son, Jesus, came into this world. He became flesh and blood to pay the price we cannot pay. His blood is holy, for Jesus never sinned. His blood is precious, for it is the blood of God. And that is the price he paid for you: his holy, precious blood.
What comfort! No matter what you face in this life, cling to the word of God and his tender words of comfort. He has paid the ultimate price for you and me. The glory our God has prepared for us far outweighs our present suffering. He is the Shepherd who carries us in his arms to take us home. What comfort!
Prayer:
O Lord Jesus, prepare my heart to rejoice in the comfort your word brings. Amen.
