Second Tuesday of Advent

Today’s Reading: Isaiah 5:13-17, 24-25

Key Verse: Man is humbled, and each one is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are brought low. ~Isaiah 5:15

You have now made significant progress into this Advent journey. It has possibly been a difficult journey, requiring great honesty in self-examination. The goal of this journey is simply to prepare yourself to meet Jesus in a deeper way, as you remember his Incarnation, when he was born as a tiny baby two thousand years ago, and also as you look forward to his second coming. A key component of this process, if you haven’t already realized it, is humility. The humble person sees him or herself rightly, as they truly are in relation to God. They know their weakness and their need. They have learned to be dependent upon God rather than their own strength and intellect. They do not look upon others with scorn or disdain because they realize we are all beggars in need of Divine grace. The journey to humility is often a difficult one. As Isaiah describes the plight of Israel it is a picture of a people struggling to learn humility. But it is so key to life with God. Isaiah warns the people who have been living so self-indulgently that they will be humbled and “brought low” (Isa 5:15). He describes a great reversal in which the rich and honored people will go hungry and the lambs (helpless animals) and nomads (people without a permanent home) would “graze as in their pasture…and eat among the ruins of the rich” (Isa 5:17). God is still working in terms of great reversals, doing the unexpected. Who would have ever expected the Savior to come as a tiny baby? Humility removes the blinders that keep us from seeing God at work.

Gracious Lord, shape my heart to be like yours. Teach me humility and remove anything from my heart that is an obstacle to my walk with you. Help me to continue in this Advent journey so that I may come to know and love you more. Amen.

For Further Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 Luke 21:29-38 Psalm 26