Let it snow, let it snow!The first reading, Isaiah 25: 6-10a, is a reminder of God's goodness and his concern that we be a "charged" people, that we be exciting women and men. Imagine the comfort and peace these prophetic words brought to the people. There is in these thoughts from Isaiah the promise of God's ever-loving care to prepare the people to understand how our God wants these people to live beyond their thoughts of the need for forgiveness. It is a reminder to us today to shed our feelings of guilt. We are reminded once again: "God has saved us; God has forgiven whatever failures or sins that may cloud our thinking, our living."
You know, there is a phrase in the Isaiah reading which I suggest each of us recall every morning, even before we put our feet to the floor for the first time of the new day. It is a reminder that we are truly a blessed, each of us. It is a reminder that God is more concerned about the destiny he has given us --- even before we were born into this world. Isaiah writes: "... let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us (verse 9)"
How often it happens that so many believers find it a struggle to pray, to dedicate themselves to a good and rewarding life. Why? Because they get tangled up with past sins and failures. They think of how wrong they were rather than how many almost unbelievable gifts God has given them just for living that day. I suggest that these good people allow a spiritual life of low esteem direct their thinking and all they do. Imagine what our world would be like if all of us spent several minutes each day reciting a new mantra: rejoice and be glad, I am forgiven and blessed with so much goodness by a loving God. He has called me by name. He has anointed me not to be a prophet of doom and gloom but, rather, to be a living witness of the greatness he has given me in my life. Rejoice and be glad!!!
