3/18/25 Daily Lenten Devotional

Isaiah 55:1-9

¹Hear, everyone who thirsts; come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. ²Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your earnings for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. ³Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. ⁴See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. ⁵Now you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. ⁶Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; ⁷let the wicked forsake their way and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. ⁸For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. ⁹For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Thank God—literally—that God’s ways are bigger and better than our ways. God wants people to listen because his ways lead to life. On the other hand, the ways of the world lead to suffering and death. But even though we always fall back into those ways, however toxic and terrible they might be, God has made a covenant—a promise that lasts forever—to bless us with love and mercy. That’s another way that God’s ways are above us: unlike us, God never breaks promises, and God shows mercy and love where we act with violence and resentment. That’s a gift that we can’t take for granted and are called to share with others, to the best of our abilities. And when we fall short, we must remind ourselves and others that God has also blessed us with forgiveness. Prayer: Good and Gracious God, thank you for your promise to bless us with everlasting mercy and unconditional love. Give us strength and boldness to share the love and mercy with others through our words and our actions in our everyday lives—in Jesus’ name. Amen. —2024/2025 Confirmation Students