Second Monday of Advent

Today’s Reading: Isaiah 5:8-12

Key Verse: They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts, but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord, or see the work of his hands. ~Isaiah 5:12

Chapter 5 continues in the form of a “woe oracle”, a statement of impending doom as a result of injustice on the part of the hearers. Beginning in verse eight God speaks a word of indictment against those who have gotten rich on the backs of the poor and who now live in lavish excess while failing to yield a harvest of righteousness. Those who engage in this type of injustice are described as spending their time partying from morning until night, enjoying themselves with strong drink and music. The implicit accusation is that they enjoy excess while all around them are those in need and want and those who have do nothing to aid those who do not. This follows from the earlier exhortation to “cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause” (Isa 1:16-17). This self-centered lifestyle has placed blinders on their eyes. As a result Isaiah says they are unable to “regard the deeds of the Lord, or see the work of his hands” (Isa 5:12). It is easy for us to become so focused on self and distracted with temporal things that we fail to see what God is doing and are thus unable to join God in what he is calling us to.

Reflect: Simply quiet your heart and mind for five minutes and look around you. Consider your life and the lives of those close to you. What is God doing that you may be missing because of a distracted life. Ask God to reveal himself to you in a deeper way and seek to ally yourself with what God is doing.

Heavenly Father, show me where you are at work in the world around me and give me grace to bring myself in line with what You are doing, so that I might yield a harvest of righteousness in your sight. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

For Further Reading 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 Luke 21:20-28 Psalm 25