Focus

As you quiet yourself for this brief time, be willing to be open to God in whatever way that may take place.

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Read

Isaiah 11:1-10 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.

They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
Return of the Remnant of Israel and Judah

On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

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Reflect

I’m a mom of two kids and a dog. And trust me, moms have special skills. I can tell by the sound of my child’s yell if it is anger, fear, or pain. I can tell by the suspicious silence if I need to be worried. I can tell by the look on my child’s face if they’ve had a good or bad day at school.
Just as we can read our children by using our hearts, our ears and our feelings – God judges us using more than just what we show on the surface. In Isaiah 11, it says this about the Lord’s treatment of his children.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

God uses his innate knowledge of each of us to parent us as we need it. He doesn’t use what he sees or what he hears, but what we need. He uses righteousness as his tool to parent each of us with love. Each of us gets what we need from God simply by being one of his children.

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Pray

Forgive us for what you hear us say. Forgive us for what you see us do. May your righteousness judge us as we need it. Amen.

Go with God!