v. 1-3- "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of the vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."
These three verses are so packed with goodness, I don't know where to begin or even if I have anything I can add! Each one of us has been called by the Lord to not only tell others about Him, but to help those in need and be there for those who are brokenhearted. When we humble ourselves in such a way, He will bless us immensely with joy and happiness! He will even call us "Oaks of Righteousness." We will be solid trees that provide shade for those who are in need and can never be knocked down, even by rain and huge storms! What a blessing and honor to be the display of our Lord's very own splendor! To be designated by Him to be His hands and His feet! We have done nothing to deserve this, of course, but the responsibility and joy has been given to us just the same. So now, we can either say, "Yes Lord," and receive our crown of beauty and oil of gladness and garment of praise... or we can ignore our responsibility and keep the joy that we have found in Christ to ourselves so that it may not increase and be spread throughout the nations.v. 7- "Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs."
We all have stuff to be shameful of. That's a fact. We've all sinned behind God's back and pretended He didn't see. But He did. And you know what? He loves us all the same as before! In fact, when we repent, He blesses us! He gives us the very inheritance of Jesus Christ because we too are called His sons and daughters! Even more than that, we will have an "everlasting joy." This doesn't mean we will always be happy, because as we all know, that's not the case. However, this does mean that we will have peace when times are rough or we are heartbroken or broken. As Billy Graham said, "I don't know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future." God has gifted us with assurance that the future is under His control and is going to be alright. That's what I see joy as, anyways.
v. 10- "I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."
We are filthy sinners, but God adorns us with the robes of Christ's righteousness so that that's all He sees when He looks at us! He doesn't see our sin any longer! Do we find our delight in that? In the Lord who forgives and blesses? He is our bridegroom and we are His. His love for us is so strong that He has made an everlasting covenant to us, and when we surrender our lives to Him, we are saying "I do." We are committing ourselves to our Savior and our God! I challenge you to think about that today. Live like you are the bride of Christ. Yes, He's going to take you back when you turn to idols instead of Him, but don't make Him chase you! You are already His and He loves you with all that He is! Let Him romance you and pursue you! I promise you will be blessed.
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