TO CHEW ON: "The Lord God has given Me The tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak A word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned The Lord God has opened My ear And I was not rebellious Nor did I turn away." Isaiah 50:4-5
By the context it's easy to identify the Servant in this Song as Jesus (Just go on to Isaiah 50:6 and compare to Matthew 27:30). We have in Isaiah's words a wonderful Jesus-template on which to pattern our lives.
Wisdom
We see Jesus' wisdom on display already when He was 12 and talking with the temple rulers. We acknowledge our own need for wisdom, praying along with young king Solomon: "But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties..." (1 Kings 3:7 NIV). But do we take James seriously when he tells us what godly wisdom consists of: "...pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy..." (James 3:13-17)?
Appropriate speech
Jesus' speech wasn't always meek and mild. He could be fiery and funny, probing and gentle. Of course His speech was tied to His wisdom (Matthew 13:34) and ours needs to be too (Matthew 5:37; Colossians 4:6; James 3:2).
A disciplined spirit
Have you noticed how many times Jesus sneaked away from His disciples to be with His Father? Sometimes he got up early. Sometimes He went off by Himself after a long day of teaching and doing miracles. Sometimes He stayed up all night. His words to His disciples about disciplined prayer are a warning to us too: "...'Stay here and watch ... Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation'" (Matthew 26:38,41).
A personal relationship with God
"He awakens me... He awakens My ear"are the words of Christ through Isaiah. We get the sense of not dutiful but joyous voluntary meetings. Jesus' heart for us is to have such a relationship with Him and the Father (John 17:20-26).
A compliant heart
Who can forget the scene of Jesus praying in Gethsemane and how He battled through to pray "Not as I will but as You will" (Matthew 26:39)? He brought home to Peter the necessity of such total surrender when they met after Jesus' resurrection when He accepted Peter back into ministry with the simple "'Follow Me'" (John 21:19,22). They are the same words He says to us (Luke 9:23).
What would Jesus do (WWJD)? We have many answers to that question in this Servant Song. Will we follow His lead?
PRAYER:Dear God, Jesus' example life is beautiful but impossible for me to copy without the activity of the Holy Spirit in my life. Help me to live out these qualities of wisdom, good speech, a teachable spirit, and a compliant heart. May my relationship with You be personal, honest, and strong. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment