December 13, 2024 // Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Isaiah 48:17-19
Reflect on the Word //
I once saw my faith as a burden, as opposed to seeing it as a gift. I was too fixated on the “rules,” instead of focusing on the intentions of the Lord’s Heart. I knew about His Heart, but I didn’t know His Heart personally. From past hurt and pain, all I could think of were the ways that I thought He was attempting to “destroy my life.”
He gently and lovingly spoke to my heart, I’ve come to redeem, not destroy.
The “your” in “your redeemer,” from Isaiah 48:17, is personal. He has a unique story of redemption for your life—a story that is a part of His redemption of Israel. His story for your life is good. You don’t have to fear the path that He’s leading you down, for He “leads you on the way you should go” (Isaiah 48:17). You don’t have to prepare for the worst-case scenario. You don’t have to prepare yourself to be disappointed. Following and believing Him and what He speaks to your heart is meant to be life-giving, not life-threatening.
We’re created to be in relationship with Him, not with our fear or our doubts. He wants us to communicate our fears, pains, worries, and wounds to Him. All of that is a gift to Him. He wants to reveal the Truth to you, and speak new life into your heart.
Friend, I know how difficult it can be, but the slow work of His redemption in your life is worth it. He’s not here to only redeem a bit of you, but to redeem all of you, even the places where you feel that redemption seems impossible and even if you feel you are too far gone. Nothing is impossible for Him, and there’s not a soul that He isn’t willing and ready to restore. “Hearken to [His] commandments” (Isaiah 48:18) and you can joyfully expect redemption. The fruits of your life with Him will “be like a river” and your name will be “never cut off” from His presence (see Isaiah 48:19).
Relate to the Lord // What life-giving words has Jesus spoken to your heart recently? Cherish them all over again.
Bella Rol is a college student from Monterey, CA. She is studying Early Childhood Education as she pursues her dream of working with children and one day having her own to care for. In the meantime, she is the big sister to three younger brothers. In her free time she is usually found with her sketchbook and art supplies as she doodles away.
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