Maybe it’s just because it’s Christmas time, but as I read through Isaiah, I’m often reminded of Scrooge’s ghosts from A Christmas Carol. Has the prophecy already happened? Is this speaking of something yet to come?
But then jewels like this jump out at me:
“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.'” (Isaiah 28:6)
I’m reminded immediately of Peter’s admonition to us:
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,“ and,
“A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (I Peter 2:4-10)
My prayer is two fold: that I will be thankful for God’s mercy in my life, knowing that by trusting in Him, I will never be put to shame. And second, that my friends will not stumble on Jesus who came as a baby on Christmas, but will instead turn to Him, repent of their hard hearts, and accept his death and resurrection on their behalf as a precious gift.
Looking up for His return…
