“But now thus saith
the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear
not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.”
Isaiah 43:1
I see a few
bits of love in this verse.
·
“the Lord
that created thee,”
You were created.
Not thrown together; not an
accident, not a happenstance of nature. Your skin tone, toes, hair strands, and
mitochondria were all created.
·
“O, Jacob,”
I use to wonder why on earth God
would insist on addressing Himself as, “the God of Jacob.” Couldn’t He have
chosen someone more worthy; someone like Enoch? Instead, He chooses Jacob:
liar, thief, despiser of Leah, father who plays favorites . . .
And then it hit me. He chooses people like Jacob—liars, thieves,
and all other sinners to be known as His people.
·
“O Israel,”
The Bible is overflowing with
charming, delightful descriptions of the Israelites . . . right?
Actually, most of the time, the
stories are full of a hard-hearted, faithless people and yet God insists on
being associated with them. He insists on being what they need.
·
“Fear not:”
I’m reminded of the verse in I John
(I believe) which says that perfect love casts out fear and also of I Timothy
which says that we are not given a spirit of fear.
·
“for I have
redeemed thee,
Why not be afraid? Because if you
are a follower of Jesus you have been redeemed.
Bought.
Forgiven.
And being redeemed is the greatest
key to defeating fear; fear of death, guilt, and shame.
·
“I have
called thee by thy name;”
Yes, He calls us by our names. The
God of the constellations, of Niagara Falls, of the Amazon jungle, of the Milky
Way calls you by your name.
·
“thou art
mine.”
And He owns you, holds you, in the
very hands which fashioned our universe and the plan to redeem it.
“But now
thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O
Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name;
thou art mine.” Isaiah 43:1
What an amazing
and merciful God we serve! Let’s make Him known with the same love His given
us!
♥,
Frannie
