Category: Isaiah

He won’t break off a bent reed
or put out a dying flame,
but he will make sure
that justice is done.
-Isaiah 42:3 (CEV)

I’m always amazed when I read Isaiah’s prophesies about Jesus Christ. He lived hundreds of years before Jesus, yet he gave supernaturally accurate descriptions of who the Messiah would be.

Here Isaiah presents Jesus as healer. A bent reed, like any other plant stem, is generally useless and beyond repair. It is much easier to simply break it and let another healthy one grow in its place. A smoldering matchstick is equally useless—better to get a new one and start all over. Jesus, however, would never break such a reed or put out a dying flame—He would be the One who could repair broken things.

Read the Gospels and you will see the activity of Jesus the healer. He encountered people with broken bodies, broken spirits, broken hearts, and broken lives. None of them were worthless; none of them were disposable. None were beyond His ability to repair and heal.

I’ve met a lot of people who have experienced some type of brokenness in their lives. Perhaps you think that all you have is broken. Here’s the good news—Jesus can heal broken things!

One of my favorite songs is actually entitled “Broken Things.” The writer (Julie Miller) experienced some of the things I’ve been talking about. Here are some of the lyrics:

You can have my heart
Though it isn’t new
It’s been used and broken
And only comes in blue
It’s been down a long road
And it got dirty on the way
If I give it to you will you make it clean
And wash the shame away
(chorus)
You can have my heart
If you don’t mind broken things
You can have my life if you don’t mind these tears
Well I heard that you make old things new
So I give these pieces all to you
If you want it you can have my heart

Are you broken? Give your life to the true Healer, Jesus Christ.

Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the LORD,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us? Who will know?”
-Isaiah 29:15

I imagine that most of us have seen night vision goggles on television or in the movies. This technology began several years ago, but has now developed into something remarkable. Night vision is now frequently used by the US military. The reason is simple–the ability to see in the dark is a significant advantage, and enemies may attempt to use the cover of night to their own advantage. Everything from lions to soldiers use darkness to secretly launch attacks.

Darkness is often used in the Bible to symbolize evil or spiritual blindness (see the first chapter of John’s gospel). Isaiah is also using “darkness” in a figurative sense here.

As I’ve mentioned before, the people of Isaiah’s day wanted to have the appearance of obeying God, but they did not want to truly honor Him with their lives. God was calling out those who acted one way when they were “in the light” (visible to everyone), yet acted completely differently when they were “in the darkness” (when they thought they were hidden).

I gave this devotional a rather ridiculous title (or a ridiculous question). Our behavior, however, can be just as ridiculous. If we are not careful, we can easily forget that God sees us at all times. Not only does He see everything we do, he even “sees” into our minds and hearts (Jeremiah 17:9-10).

Here’s a few questions that I would like you to consider (I ask myself similar questions, too):

*Are you the same person even when your parents are not watching you?

*Do you have a “secret” life that others do not know about?

*Do you entertain thoughts that are dishonoring to God?

The fact that God is watching us should not be considered as something negative. He invites us to be aware of His presence every moment. The fact that He sees us can bring great joy. God notices an act of kindness, for example, even if no one else noticed or bothered to say “thank you.”

We should always be living for an audience of one. He sees everything–I pray that we will try to live in such a way as to bring honor and glory to Him.

Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.

For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.
-Ecclesiastes 12:13-14