July 24
6He says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6)
Happy Saturday family. As we see in the verse above, as God gives instruction to the prophet Isaiah, God had a plan for all mankind, not just His Chosen Isrealites. I’m sure over the course of Christianity, this verse has been used to illustrate the coming of Christ, but if you read Chapter 49 in its entirety, it is clearly referencing Isaiah and how that Prophet was chosen long before Jesus to “make a light for the Gentiles” so God’s “salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Of course, the Jewish nation would not listen to Isaiah, or Jesus, for that matter. But here it is, clear as day, that God’s salvation, which would eventually come in the form of Jesus Christ, was meant for all mankind. For the rich and poor, for the American and the Iranian, for the atheist and the agnostic. These are the ones we need to be preaching the Gospel to, but we are too busy arguing over the small stuff to focus on the real work at hand.
Like the COVID-19 Vaccine. If you have not gotten it, just go get it. I was holding out, and instead, I got COVID. We had an outbreak among family members following a gathering for our Daughter’s upcoming 10th birthday last Saturday. We have up to 18 confirmed cases in less than a week. My daughter was the first to be shown positive last Monday, and my son and I just got diagnosed yesterday. So out of our little family of four, the only one who hasn’t caught what most likely is the Delta variant, is my wife, who, of course, is fully vaccinated. I had held out on the vaccine because I had worked with the public for the last year and a half and had not caught COVID, so I thought I was immune. I actually thought my son and I had it late in 2019 when we both got a mysterious upper respiratory infection that the Doctors could not figure out what it was. But now I definitely have COVID and it sucks. I was mocking it yesterday, then woke up today and I feel pretty bad. I’ve been through worse, but perhaps this could have all been avoided if I had just gotten the vaccine. Who I am really hurting is my work team, as I am not permitted to come in for several days due to my diagnosis. We had to cancel our only vacation of the summer now thanks to the nasty bug. Could all of this been prevented if the majority of family had been vaccinated? Maybe, maybe not. What I do know now is that the majority of those that caught it through this last week were not vaccinated. Of course, there are still anomalies, as one fully vaccinated person caught it as well.
Regardless, the argument over the vaccine is just the newest distraction to keep us from the real work at hand, and that is spreading the Gospel, lifting up the poor, bringing help to the widow, and finding homes for the orphans of the world.
One good thing that is coming out of our COVID outbreak is I get to share extra posts with y’all as I have more time at home! And I’ll be sharing something everyday for at least the next week.
For new music, the group at Maverick City released a collaboration album with Tribl. Entitled Tribl 1, this is a great new worship album. Just go ahead and put on track 1 and push play.
Reading plan: Philippians 3:15-21
Deeper reading plan: Isaiah 49, 50, 51
Common Sense Reborn 