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The Wisdom of the Body
The Word became flesh and made his home among us. —John 1:14, CEB This month the Read More
James C. Howell | Read Isaiah 55:6-9
“Seek the Lord while he may be found.” When would that be? Now! Claus Westermann translates it, “Seek Yahweh since he may be found.”* God does not hide in some distant location. God is as close as the breath you just took, the beating of your heart. We like to think of ourselves as “seekers,” as if we are the jockeys setting the agenda. But if we “seek and find” God, it’s only because God has sought and found us; our role is to notice, to realize, and to stop our foolish flight away.
But are there times in which we can more readily find God? In worship or prayer? In pain and sorrow? There was a window in time when God was easy to find: during the earthly life of Jesus. And so we rely on the Gospel stories as we seek to realize God’s presence today.
Jesus shows us the mind and heart of God. Isaiah hears God say, “My thoughts are not your thoughts . . . my ways are higher than your ways” (55:8, ap). As Colossians 3:2 puts it, “Set your minds on things that are above.” The wonder of God’s very “high” way is that it is really very low, humble, earthly. Jesus goes low. Jesus “emptied himself” by being born human (Phil. 2:6). We need not soar or stretch upward to reach God. God has come down to us, in humility, kneeling so low as to wash our feet.
God’s will is not what we want with God giving us a boost. God’s will is surprising, out of sync, yet alluring. We can know the high and low mind of God. God requires us to seek God’s will, but God has left a well-lit trail for us to find and to know God’s mind and heart.
*Claus Westermann, Isaiah 40-66: A Commentary (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1969), 286.
Lord, thank you for being so easy to find. Show me your mind and heart so that I may follow you. Amen.
In the midst of Lent, when many might be giving up a certain food that they love, we read about feasting. The focus is not on physical feasting, but on feasting as a metaphor for communing with God. Isaiah describes food and drink that one cannot buy with money, for it comes freely from the Lord. The psalmist describes the state of his soul as being hungry and thirsty. Only meditating on God’s faithfulness nourishes his soul at the deepest level. Physical food is momentary, but spiritual nourishment endures. In First Corinthians, Paul appeals to this imagery. Although the ancients experience this spiritual nourishment, some pursue physical pleasure and stray into idolatry and immorality. Partaking in this nourishment should cause us in turn to produce spiritual fruit, as Jesus admonishes his listeners.
Read Isaiah 55:1-9. When has God’s grace inverted your expectations?
Read Psalm 63:1-8. As you mature in faith, what new questions about God do you ask?
Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. Think of a time you have faced great temptation. How did God help you endure it?
Read Luke 13:1-9. For what do you need to repent?
Respond by posting a prayer.
