*Scripture: Isaiah 43:25—44:20 (NKJV)* 43:25 "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins. 26 Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted. 27 Your first father sinned, and your mediators have transgressed against Me. 28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; I will give Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.
44:1 "Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. 2 Thus says the LORD who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you: 'Fear not, O Jacob My servant; And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring; 4 They will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses.' 5 One will say, 'I am the LORD's'; Another will call himself by the name of Jacob; Another will write with his hand, 'The LORD's,' and name himself by the name of Israel. 6 "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God. 7 And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, let them show these to them. 8 Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one.'" 9 Those who make an image, all of them are useless, and their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses; They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed. 10 Who would form a god or mold an image that profits him nothing? 11 Surely all his companions would be ashamed; And the workmen, they are mere men. Let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; Yet they shall fear, they shall be ashamed together. 12 The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals, fashions it with hammers, and works it with the strength of his arms. Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails; He drinks no water and is faint. 13 The craftsman stretches out his rule, he marks one out with chalk; He fashions it with a plane, he marks it out with the compass, and makes it like the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house. 14 He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak; He secures it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it shall be for a man to burn, for he will take some of it and warm himself; Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread; Indeed he makes a god and worships it; He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it. 16 He burns half of it in the fire; With this half he eats meat; He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He even warms himself and says, "Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire." 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, His carved image. He falls down before it and worships it, prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god!" 18 They do not know nor understand; For He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, And their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 And no one considers in his heart, nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say, "I have burned half of it in the fire, yes, I have also baked bread on its coals; I have roasted meat and eaten it; And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?" 20 He feeds on ashes; A deceived heart has turned him aside; And he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?" *Devotion* Today marks the last hours before we once again celebrate the coming forth of the promised Messiah; the Holy One of whom Holy Scripture reveals to all mankind, is none other than the One True God, Who has come to us in the person of Jesus Christ, as true man in order that He might be able to fulfill the Words of Isaiah, "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins." Throughout today's reading from Isaiah we are urged, as were the Children of Israel, to stop and ponder our sinfulness and the need of hearing the merciful words of the One True God. In all truthfulness many fall into the trap of Satan allying with man's sinfulness while tempting us to believe we are so awesome in and of ourselves in all that we think we accomplish. Take for example, the person who proudly says, "I’ve got everything ready to have another joyous ole-timey Christmas like we had when we were kids?" And again, the birth of the Christ is met with opposition. In the midst of all this, we should daily be reminded to ask ourselves, where would we be without the Almighty Triune God, Who has come to our rescue through His powerful means of grace in these last days made possible through the Lord's Anointed One. Let us pray: Hail to the Lord's Anointed, Great David's greater Son! Hail, in the time appointed, His reign on Earth begun! He comes to break oppression, to set the captive free, to take away transgression, and rule in equity. Amen.
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