Isaiah 62:10-12
Go through, go through the gates. Prepare a way for the people. Build up, build up the highway. Clear it of stones. Raise a banner for the peoples. Listen, the Lord is making a proclamation to the end of the earth. Tell the daughter of Zion: “Look, your salvation is coming. Look, his reward is with him, and his compensation is out in front of him.” Then, they will be called holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. Then you will be called Sought After, A City Not Abandoned.
Dear Heavenly Father,
You know how desperate the world is looking for eternal life. Centuries of happily-ever-afters written into our literature reflect this desire, written into fables, stories, legends, myths, and movies. However, in Your word, You give us the truth about immortality and eternal life. It is available to everyone who walks the earth, and it comes to them through faith in Jesus.
This image in Isaiah seems like he is standing before the gates of a newly developing neighborhood, calling out to everyone passing by, “This is for you; it’s a free gift of eternal life and salvation.” The banners offer everyone the rewards of living waters, bread, and light. Yet this is not a myth, story, or fable; it is the truth. You have made entering based upon faith alone, and You do not want anyone to reject those gates of faith. This city is what everyone is looking for: to no longer feel abandoned and you accept everyone with all their stones of sin. Because Your Son, Jesus, removed all the sins that would keep the person out; the punishment for all our sins he suffered on the cross and made a full payment with his holy blood.
The rewards—eternal life and salvation—are for everyone who believes and trusts in the forgiveness Jesus won. Send us Your Holy Spirit so we may be confident in the forgiveness Jesus has won for us and that by faith, we know our stones of sin have been removed. Prepare our hearts with repentance so we acknowledge our sins and receive Jesus’ forgiveness You promised. We also pray that many will see this message and, by believing in Jesus, find the eternal life they desire. Amen.
Written through Pastor Roger Emmons
The first death will come, but where your soul goes after that depends on your faith. Rejecting the love of God and His Son results in permanent separation and suffering away from God. Trusting in God and His Son results in salvation, life, and eternally united with God.