August 8, 2017
August 8, 2017
ISAIAH 49-53
Focus Verse: But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,
and my reward is with my God.”
Isaiah 49:4
I have a question for you to think on, and you have to be painfully honest with yourself. To what extent is Jesus Christ enough for you? Give it a percentage. One hundred percent means that you need nothing else in this life, 0% means He has absolutely no value to you.
Now this is one of those easy questions to answer quickly. That’s why I said you need to be painfully honest with yourself. We know that we should be a 100% (those of us who are practicing Christians anyway). We may even say that we’re there. We sing the words to “Christ is Enough for Me” on Sunday and we’re good to go. But what does your life say? What does your reaction say when people spurn you? When you get stabbed in the back? When you get snubbed?
When you labor in vain and spend all of your strength for nothing at all, do you complain that it was all for nothing, or do you rest in the work Jesus Christ has already done? If we truly recognize that Jesus Christ is enough, if we see that He has our life securely in the palm of His hand and He is our reward, then we will never fret when other people let us down.
I know this is cheating, combining another Bible passage from today’s scripture reading, but read Isaiah 52:13-53. Seriously, take a minute, stop what you’re doing, and go read it. Pretend you’re doing some research so your boss won’t get mad. This passage was written over 500 years before Jesus was born. Do you see what this means? Jesus Christ was born for this. He was born for a life of suffering, injustice, rejection, brutality. This was God’s purpose for Him. He is the one speaking these words in Isaiah 49:4, “Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”
Because of Christ’s trust in His Father; because His Father was the only reward He needed, He could life this life marked by suffering. The bitter pill of His death, injustice, rejection from those He loved most, could be swallowed because He knew that His reward rested with God. Not with man. Not on this earth. But with God.
How satisfied are you with Christ? Is His sacrifice enough for you? He gave 100% for you, will you give 100% for Him?
Where I Stand 
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