Scripture: Isaiah 25:7-8
And the Lord will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.
Thought for the Day: Recently I was sitting with some church folks and we were joking around. Someone intended to say that God just might smite you for thinking that way. Smite is a word often associated with the fire and brimstone of some angry god, but instead of saying the word smite, the person said smitten. Just an extra ’T’ and the addition of an ’N’, and boy does the meaning change. As you begin to read this section of Isaiah, “And the Lord will destroy…,” I believe there is an expectation of where the passage is going. People assume God is going to strike down (smite) all those sinful people, but as you continue to read, that’s not the case. God destroys the shroud that hangs over humanity. God swallows up death forever and comforts those who grieve. Too often we are expecting a God who is going to smite the world, but what we find is a God who is smitten with the world.
Prayer: In your love, O Lord, I am challenged to change my ways. I do not fear your smiting power but choose to live within your Spirit that is smitten with me despite my many flaws. Amen.
Are you praying for your church?
A church built on prayer will do things
it never imagined it could do.
