2010 Advent Devotional
St. Stephen United Methodist Church
Thursday, December 2
Isaiah 11:1-10
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
   from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-
   the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
   the Spirit of counsel and of might,
   the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD-
3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.

   He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
   or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
   with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
   with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
   and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

 6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
   the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
   and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
   their young will lie down together,
   and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra's den,
   the young child will put its hand into the viper's nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
   on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD
   as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

 

When Isaiah first wrote these words in the eighth century BCE, he was living in Judah in a time between the Syro-Ephraimite War and the threat of invasion from Assyria, "a time of incessant conflict." Isaiah describes to the people of Judah the kind of leader God wants them to have. He describes someone having wisdom and understanding, having an ability to take counsel (advice) and act decisively and having knowledge and fear of God.

Across 27 centuries Isaiah continues to speak to us. He describes the leader most of us crave. We, in our time (also a time of conflict of all kinds) have an responsibility to discern and choose the right leaders. And, more importantly, we need to so lead our lives that we show those same values. The idyllic scene of natural enemies (animal and human) living together without enimity may never come to pass, but we can do our part to resolve our problems with each other, bring peace to our lives and honor God and the Prince of Peace.
Prayer: Our Father, guide us in our actions in our time so that we can be the workers and leaders that You want. Amen.
Peggy Lancaster

If you wish to be taken off of the distribution list for the Advent devotions, please e-mail kellykeesling@ststephenumc.net.

(Note: If you unsubscribe below, you will be removed from all of our e-mail lists.)