Prepare to Listen. I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God.
Prayerfully Read Isaiah 61:10-11 10I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations. Prayerfully Wonder I will greatly rejoice. This isn’t a half-hearted effort but, as the Hebrew suggests, it’s “a sweeping, extravagant statement” about one who is “unreservedly exuberant.”[1] The one rejoicing is given a new outfit—“the garment of salvation” and “the robe of righteousness.” Joy was a natural response. Jesus’s life was about exuberant joy which he promised to give to us. He said, “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” And, “I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves” (Jn 15:11; 17:13). Evelyn Underhill described joy as a “self-abandonment so complete that the ups and downs of life cease to hurt us,”[2] that is, no longer control how we live. Jesus has also outfitted his followers with the garment of salvation and robe of righteousness. Paul believed this, and thus urged the Ephesians to put off the old, corrupt life and “clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:22-24). Put on this new outfit, step out into the world and greatly rejoice. When we do, the world will experience God’s presence in us and be infected by our joy. Prayerfully Reflect If the new self is in the likeness of Jesus, how should we then live? Prayerfully Respond Lord Jesus, you promised to make our joy complete, but so often I let the ups and downs of life take over my mind. Clothe me in your salvation and righteousness so that I too greatly rejoice. Amen. Live obediently. Practice rejoicing greatly today. [1] Brueggemann, W. Isaiah 40-66. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998, p. 218. [2] Underhill, E. The Ways of the Spirit. New York, NY: Crossroad. 1999, p. 66.
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