ESOCS Devotional 31 January 2021
TEXT: ISAIAH 52:13-15
MEMORY VERSE: “See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted”. Isaiah 52:13 NIV
Here, God was talking about our Lord Jesus Christ. He gave a description of how our Lord was going to act when He first came to save the world. He was going to “act wisely”. This is the crux of the matter, the centre-point of our relationship with God. It is where the problem lies. From the beginning of things, humanity has either failed to “act wisely” or that we have bluntly refused to do so. We seem to take delight in standing on the wrong foot, and to the detriment of our peace, wellbeing, and soul. But the truth is that no one can deliver us from ourselves but us; and again, that is where the big problem lies because humanity does not seem to have the inclination to work towards achieving that goal.
When our Lord first came, He had all the powers bestowed upon Him by the Father. With such powers, He could have resisted and destroyed all those that arrested, tortured, and crucified Him. But He remained obedient to the will of the Father to the end. That was “acting wisely”. He said to Peter, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” (Matt. 26:53-54 NIV).
Obedience to the perfect will of God and His word is acting wisely. Disobedience is acting foolishly. When we obey God, we show that we are diligent and intelligent enough to keep ourselves in His heart. We become His good children, and it would lead to our glorification, exaltation, and edification. He would bless us in diverse ways and we would have success, triumph, and prosperity in all our endeavours, and everywhere we go. Unfortunately, humanity chooses to do otherwise.
Read yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
In the eyes of the world, acting in obedience to God’s word is odd and foolish; but a wise person would continue in it, knowing that in the end he would reap the fruits of obedience bountifully. Obedience to God is living forthrightly, righteously, and in holiness. Anyone who practices such things could be hated by the ungodly. Such a lifestyle or attitude may lead to persecution, victimization, humiliation, degradation, and conspiracy against such a practising Christian. Nevertheless, we should stand strong and resolve to live according to the will and commandment of God. One thing is sure, at the end it would lead to such blessedness, promotion, and exaltation that people would wonder at the transformation we have gained. This is the same thing that would happen at the Second Coming of our Lord when the world would see Him in all His glory compared to what he looked like when He first came (Isa. 53:3).
Let us never forget to remember our Lord Jesus as our perfect example. He thought, spoke, and acted wisely in ways that were different from the ways of the world (Heb. 12:2). We should be like Him always, and in all things too; that way, we would act wisely too. Let Him be the song that we sing.
CHALLENGES
In your view, what do you understand by acting wisely within God’s scheme of things?
PRAYER POINT
O God, grant me the wisdom to live according to your word all through my life.
FURTHER READING: Isaiah 41:1–20; Luke 2:41-52; Philippians 4:8-22
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ESOCS Devotional 31 January 2021
