Isaiah 30:18
But the Lord is eager to be gracious to you. He waits on high to have mercy on you, for the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who long for him.
Dear Heavenly Father,
As we look at ourselves in the mirror of Your commandments, we must admit we do not do a good job keeping them. We are downright awful. We can be pretty loveless towards You and others, especially when someone steps on the proverbial toe of our pride. You have said in Your Word (through Your Son) that we are to be perfect just as You are. Once again, this reminds us how much we miss the mark thinking only about ourselves.
However, You knew us and all our lovelessness, yet You are still eager to be gracious to us. As Isaiah wrote, waiting on high to have mercy on us and waiting for the specific moment in all time when You would send Your Son to pay the price for our sin. Jesus paid with his innocent life and holy death by stepping in our place and taking the judgment we leveled against ourselves for our sins. You punished Your sinless Son in our stead, and since You are a God of justice, our penalty was paid in full. This gift of forgiveness only comes to us by believing and trusting in Jesus. We thank You for the blessing of forgiveness and ask that You strengthen our faith through Your Word so that we will long for You.
We ask also that You would stir up a response in us (specifically in me) that we (I) would share the good news about Your love and forgiveness with someone who does not know You. Forgive me when I fail to see or use the opening to love others, and please do not hinder them from learning about You because of my sinful inadequacies. So even when our efforts flop, we still see Your grace and mercy eager to save us and others. We long for you and to be blessed with the heavenly home that awaits us. Amen.
Written through Pastor Roger Emmons
Love is lifting others and making them more than yourself; the ultimate gift is sharing how God eagerly waits to bless them with forgiveness and salvation, which comes only by faith in Jesus. By trusting in Jesus’ forgiveness, eternal life in heaven is waiting for you.