Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. – Isaiah 60:1
Have you ever tried to fall asleep in a bright room? The light makes it hard, if not impossible, to fall asleep. Or maybe you’ve experienced the opposite – where you were trying to stay awake while in a dimly lit room. Society typically associates light with staying awake and darkness with being asleep, and the Bible is no different.
The nation of Israel strayed from God many times and faced difficult consequences as a result. The prophet Isaiah spoke to them during one of these times. In Isaiah chapter 59, he actually took the time to describe the darkness that Israel was facing as a result of their poor choices. Thankfully, the story did not end there. Isaiah immediately followed the story of pain with hope: “Your light has come” (Isaiah 60:1). Their rescue from darkness had come, and it was not the time to sit and wallow anymore. It was time to get up and respond to the deliverance that God provided.
As the world emerges from a gloomy time following a difficult year, you can proclaim that the light of Christ has come and God’s glory is here. The light is not a time for sleeping but is a time for action and response to God’s work. Spend some time in prayer today and ask God to show you areas where you may need to wake up. Praise Him for the light He has brought to the earth. Pray for U.S. officials in the government to walk in God’s light as they do their work.
Today’s Verse: Isaiah 60:1
Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: John 1:5, 9-16
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
