God always made clear His love for Israel. As His chosen people, God had plans for them, not the least of which was to be a witness for Him in the world.
Today, believers are God’s chosen people, and we are able to learn more about our relationship with Him as we read what He said to “the seed of Abraham.”
Israel did nothing to deserve being God’s servant nor did they accomplish so much that they could be called His chosen people. They were the objects of God’s grace. In the same way, we do not deserve to be the beneficiaries of Christ’s death on the cross and the salvation resulting from it, but God has made us the objects of His grace.
We are assured that God is present with us. When circumstances lead us into places of fear, we are not left alone. In the loneliest places and the most painful times, the eternal, all-powerful God is with us.
How can we know this so assuredly? We have the honor of being able to say He is our God, but just think what an unspeakable honor it is to hear from heaven that God has said He is our God. We are brought into a relationship with our Father, and if we ever find ourselves feeling insignificant and unnoticed, all we need to do is remember God has said, “I am thy God.”
What about your relationship with God when you feel weak? God said He will strengthen and help us. In fact, He said He “will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Like a parent leading a child by the hand while crossing a street, our heavenly Father leads us through every dangerous situation.
He uses His right hand to assure us we have His best. The hand of righteousness lets us know that He will never fail us.
The Lord talked about the poor and needy because when His people were in captivity, they were certainly poor and needy. This is applicable to us today, as well. Without a relationship with Christ Jesus, a person is as poor and needy as anyone who ever walked the face of this earth.
My friend, when you cry out in repentance to Jesus, He will hear you and be your Savior. He will “open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys.” When He opens the rivers for you, a miraculous change takes place because He is in the business of transforming lives.
You cannot meet Christ Jesus and be the same old person. When a person surrenders to Christ Jesus, people are going to know he is a different person.
Perhaps your relationship with Christ Jesus is not what it could be, and you know it. If this is where you find yourself, there is no reason to delay submitting fully to Jesus.
God has not left us without a way to be reconciled to Him, and He has made that way very clear to everyone.
— The Sunday school lesson is written by Ed Wilcox, pastor of Centerville Baptist Church, Lumberton, N.C. edwilcox@nc.rr.com.
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