Devotional 12-6-20

 Isaiah 40:1-11

Recently, I had someone say to me, you always talk about love, when you give a sermon or write a devotion.  I know when I see your name attached to a sermon or devotion, it will have something to do with GOD’S love.  

I stopped and thought about what this person had said to me, and I knew she was right almost immediately.  I believe with all my heart and mind and soul, that every part of our relationship with God begins and ends with love.   God’s always present and never- ending love for each of us, as well as our continual need for God’s grace and love as we try to live up to Jesus’ perfect example, is what our days should be about.  Jesus said in Matthew 23:37-38, “ You shall love the Lord your God with all our heart, with all of your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

So when I read Isaiah 40:1-11, once again all I could think about and see in those words, was God’s love, beckoning us to come home, so we could feel God’s always present and never ending love for us. And there was Jesus treating us like a shepherd, gathering us in his arms and surrounding us with His love.

This has been such a difficult year for all of us, from the noise and the chaos to the virus and the isolation.  Isaiah paints this picture in my mind of Jesus reaching out for us and encircling us in his arms, reminding us to come home to God’s love, that just feels so comforting and peaceful. Now is the time for us to turn ourselves to that love that is always there, just waiting for us.  Allow yourself to feel the grace, the peace and the joy.  It is GOD’S  LOVE!!  First, last and always!!

AMEN, 

Rev. Suzanne Ellis