Slices
Prepare
Why do you read your Bible and these notes? Answer yourself honestly: What keeps you going, or makes you restart if you stop?
Bible passage
13 The Lord says:
‘These people come near to me with their mouth
and honour me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
14 Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.’
15 Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
‘Who sees us? Who will know?’
16 You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,
‘You did not make me’?
Can the pot say to the potter,
‘You know nothing’?
17 In a very short time, will not Lebanon be turned into a fertile field
and the fertile field seem like a forest?
18 In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
19 Once more the humble will rejoice in the Lord;
the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 The ruthless will vanish,
the mockers will disappear,
and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down –
21 those who with a word make someone out to be guilty,
who ensnare the defender in court
and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice.
22 Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob:
‘No longer will Jacob be ashamed;
no longer will their faces grow pale.
23 When they see among them their children,
the work of my hands,
they will keep my name holy;
they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding;
those who complain will accept instruction.’
Explore
Sometimes our worship and prayer can feel as though we are just ‘going through the motions’. Verse 13 of this chapter could make us feel condemned for this. But look at verse 14. Far from casting us aside in those times, God says he will ‘astound [us] with wonder upon wonder’. How incredible! He sees our weaknesses and responds with extravagant generosity.
The wonders he promises include restoring both people and the land to wholeness. Many of these were demonstrated during Jesus’ life on earth. Yet they were not the final fulfilment of this prophecy. The best is yet to come. We are still looking forward to it with eyes of faith and hope. The miracles of Jesus, and those seen by many throughout the world today, are just a kind of ‘first fruits’; we can see what God has done in the past as a ‘down payment’, assuring us that these other wonders will certainly follow.
Praying and reading God’s Word ‘because we should’ is a good discipline, but he longs to give us joy in it, and he takes the responsibility on himself of amazing and delighting us with wonders.
Respond
If your worship feels dry, read again of some of Jesus’ miracles, and remind yourself to be awed by them. Or think about a sunset or a pine cone or a caterpillar and allow God to astound you with these wonders.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Deuteronomy 6,7; Psalm 33
Pray for Scripture Union
Sue Hill, Mission Events Coordinator, asks us to pray that more children and young people from the 95 will be excited by the holidays that Scripture Union has planned for this year, and that those who care for them will be willing to book them a place.
