Reading the Bible Together

¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. ¹⁸ You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

¹⁹ I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. ²⁰ When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. ²¹ What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Passage for the Day

 1 Listen to me, you islands; 
       hear this, you distant nations: 
       Before I was born the LORD called me; 
       from my birth he has made mention of my name.

    2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, 
       in the shadow of his hand he hid me; 
       he made me into a polished arrow 
       and concealed me in his quiver.

    3 He said to me, “You are my servant, 
       Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”

    4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; 
       I have spent my strength for nothing at all. 
       Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand, 
       and my reward is with my God.”

    5 And now the LORD says— 
       he who formed me in the womb to be his servant 
       to bring Jacob back to him 
       and gather Israel to himself, 
       for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD 
       and my God has been my strength—

    6 he 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.”

    7 This is what the LORD says— 
       the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel— 
       to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, 
       to the servant of rulers: 
       “Kings will see you and stand up, 
       princes will see and bow down, 
       because of the LORD, who is faithful, 
       the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

Points of interest:

·         ‘hear this, you distant nations’—this message is particularly aimed at people who are very far away from Jerusalem.

·         ‘He made my mouth like a sharpened sword‘—I think this prophecy is working on two different levels simultaneously.  On one level, the subject is Isaiah himself, whose prophecies are like a sharpened sword.  On the other level, we have yet another picture of this mysterious future, ideal king (the Branch, the Root, the servant).

·         ‘concealed me in his quiver‘—to me, it seems that this part of the prophecy is especially applicable to Isaiah.  His words are like sharp arrows, but instead of being shot, they’re just kept in the quiver.  As far as he can see, his words are being wasted.  It must have been hard indeed to be Isaiah.  He’s prophesying about the Jewish return from exile—and things that happen long after that, even—more than a hundred years before they even go into exile.  No one in Jerusalem believes a word he says; they just can’t believe that God would ever let the temple be taken by a foreign nation (think of Psalm 46 from last week).  What’s the point of continuing to speak?

·         ‘You are my servant, Israel’—whether God is speaking to Isaiah, the future king, or both, I think what God is saying is that they fulfill God’s long-standing intentions for Israel.  They’re what Israel is supposed to be.

·         ‘It is too small a thing‘—it’s not that Isaiah’s words are being wasted.  Rather, they’re being saved for a more worthy purpose, when the time is right.

·         ‘that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth‘—the big miracle Isaiah is hoping for is the rescue of the Israelites from Babylon.  God has much bigger things in mind: he is going to rescue the whole world, and he’s going to use Isaiah’s words and the work of this future king to do it. 

Taking it home:

·         For you: Do you believe God has good plans for you? Or do you more often feel a little overlooked or out of place? Ask God that he would speak to you about the special things he has in mind just for you. You might want to prepare yourself for the possibility that they are MUCH bigger than you would expect or could comprehend.

·         For your six: Thank God for the unique way he has made each of your six.  Consider that God has stamped his image in some way on each of them.  Pray that the unique ways that each of your six reflects God would be used. You might also consider pointing out to them a unique quality that you see in them and why you think it’s a good thing.

.         For America: Pray today for all the people in America who are trying in some way to follow Jesus.  Pray that God would use them to actually be a light—that they would in fact be helpful and relevant to those around them.  Pray that they wouldn’t think too small about what God might have for them.