Greetings in Christ,
We forget just how far reaching God will go to connect with His creation. We sometimes cast our vote on those who we think are acceptable to hear the word of God, but the reality of it God has not put any restrictions on who hears His word.
Isaiah writes about God’s approach to reach the Egyptians and the Assyrians. They will collaborate in building a road which will extend between both countries with each other traveling back and forth on a regular basis. They will even begin to worship together, and they will be worshiping God almighty.
At this time of the writing, people were astonished at the very thought of Egypt and Assyria even getting along let alone worshiping God. The Egyptians and Assyrians were known for their idol worship and their cruelty to humans. The Assyrians were considered more cruel due to their perfection in torture. People could not wrap their minds around the thought of these two nations putting down their indifferences or their idol worship to gather as a congregation to worship God. It was like asking oil and water to mix. It just was not part of the mind set, but it was part of God’s mindset.
God went beyond the thought of what they had done and went to what they could be in Him. It was a matter of bringing them back home to Him so they could worship Him their Creator. God was lonely for their companionship and He was working out the details for their return home for the reunion.
Paul writes on Romans about the Gentiles being allowed to worship God. This was something which was strictly forbidden in the Jewish laws to let the unclean mingle with the clean. They did not observe the laws of cleanliness, raised pigs the dirtiest of animals, and many just wanted to forget them. They were treated like trash and even abused. They worked some of the worst jobs which was to be done, jobs considered to be the dirtiest.
For years they had been excluded from the Jewish customs, but Paul is reminding the people God had foretold of the Gentiles having a leader who will lead them to the truth of God, and He will share with them the Kingdom that was available for all who chose to receive the pardon of sin.
Jesus reached out to the Gentiles due to being rejected by the very people who were to receive Him or at least recognize Him. He was more welcome and recognized by those who had not been part of the Jewish custom than those who had, and the Gentiles gladly bowed down before Him and recognized Him as Lord and Savior. God was calling His children home and He wanted the Gentiles to part of the reunion.
Luke writes about the slaves who received the minas by their master. The master was a hard man, and the people did not like him. The slaves had choices to make, and two of them chose to invest the minas and double their portion. The third chose to hide it and not to anything with it. The two were rewarded for their investing, but the third was punished for his poor choice. The master was a hard man, but recognized the effort made by the two slaves for their work to double their portion, and they were rewarded accordingly.
God is calling His creation to be with Him. He is lonely for their companionship. He is using all methods of communication so He can reach those who are listening, but He knows it is the personal touch which makes the effort worthwhile. God has invested a lot of His own personal interests, time, and resources to make the reunion take place. He does not want those who He has recruited to let Him down in their effort as well. The rewards will be great for those who choose to work hard to see their portion invested in others. God wants to see all His creation at the reunion when it takes place.
“The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.” Psalms 118:14
“Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.” Psalms 145:3
“The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.” Psalms 145:18
Lord may You find us worthy in the effort to call all Your children home for the reunion. Amen
Blessings,
Mark Johnson
Psalm 118, 145; Isaiah 19:19-25; Romans 15:5-13; Luke 19:11-27