I'm crazy busy preparing messages for Christmas services so as I'm reading Isaiah 40 I have Christmas at the forefront of my mind. My reflections led me to a couple of observations. As I read verse 12 and following I was thinking of the contrast between God described so majestically and what it meant for God to come down - "merely" (but not really) to "comfort" his people. More about that in my Christmas day message. But the contrast arrested my imagination and I was startled with the realization of God's reduction. Wow! And then I was also wondering about that image at the beginning of the passage about making the path straight and making rough places plain, and the rest of that image. I'm wondering what that actually refers to. Why is it "in the desert"? And for exactly what reason are we called to smooth out the valleys etc.? Just caught myself wondering and wandering about that today.
Hey - I hope your Christmas preparations have been going well and that this reading of Isaiah 40 has helped you in those preparations. Peace and blessings to all of you. I'll post one more time on this passage and then we'll move on to other things. Any feedback for keeping this blog going?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think it is a good idea to keep the blog going, Nathan. It can do a number of good things. I appreciated reading the various ways in which Isaiah 40 spoke various people. I found especially meaningful John's reflections on how the description of God in the passage encouraged him during the difficult period of the illness and death of their son.
ReplyDeleteIf connected to a message or series of messages, the blog can help us explore issues further by providing the opportunity to ask questions and propose alternate interpretations and/or applications. You might even use it as a sounding board to provide you with ideas or illustrations from personal experiences for upcoming messages in the series.
Bob
Love it...do keep it going please!
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't have much to do with your post, I'm afraid. I'll have to spend more time reading the blog. I just wanted to say that I'm happy to see a NL blog! I do hope you do keep it going.
ReplyDeleteI'm a former (I don't think my name is on the membership roll anymore) member of NL church and it's nice to reconnect with a place that has a lot of memories and friends.
I'm reading this on the last day of the year and , being new to NL and not a member at this time, I find this is helpful for making a connection to people, even if i have not yet met them. I am hoping you keep this blog going but would love a variety of topics and Bible passages discussed. At this point in my walk, it would be very helpful to feel connected and to stay in God's word and activelly work on my faithwalk.
ReplyDeleteWinnie