Saturday, September 26, 2026

Opening Scripture

Therefore say to the Israelites, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel!” Ezekiel 36 (selected)

Opening Prayer

Gracious Father, I praise You for all that You are and all that You’ve done. I praise You for Your abundant blessings to me in Jesus Christ, my Lord and Your Son. I praise You for Your Spirit, who lives in me, comforting, counseling, and guiding each day. Thank you for adopting me into Your eternal family. I offer myself to You this day, through Jesus Christ, who rules and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever more. Amen.

Daily Bible Reading

Isaiah 35:8-10

And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, and those the LORD has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Reflection  

For Isaiah’s original audience, who had to walk everywhere – often through dry, dusty wilderness, in danger from bandits and wild animals – the image of a safe highway is quite compelling, but the most important thing about any road is its destination!

The road the prophet describes in today’s passage is the Way of Holiness, and it is only available to those “who walk on that Way.” The destination is the New Zion, the City of God. This highway is reserved for those who choose to walk in holiness. They have renounced every other way because the pursuit of holiness is the pursuit of God Himself. Those who walk on this road are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

The Way of Holiness is the way of celebration. Those traveling to Zion are full of gladness. They sing happy songs. Pain and sorrow are gone. Everlasting joy is the crown on their heads. The Hebrew word translated “joy” (sasown) means cheerfulness, fun, and rejoicing. It describes a deep, exuberant joy that springs from divine favor and blessing. God provides this special joy for His people, and the joy of the Lord is their strength.

Flourishing Habit

Flourishing Christians

Remember the vision Isaiah had in Chapter 6? In God’s presence, painfully aware of his own sinfulness and the sinfulness of the nation, the prophet spoke “Woe!” upon himself. Then, in symbolic fashion, an angel of the LORD took a burning coal from the altar and touched Isaiah’s lips declaring, “Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

That encounter symbolizes the entire story of divine redemption. Almighty God is perfectly righteous and holy. He cannot tolerate evil and wickedness. Forgiveness is possible only when full atonement is made, and that atonement must be provided by God Himself. Once we are perfectly cleansed, we are on our way to Zion!

The highway described in today’s passage is the path to everlasting joy. It leads to the heavenly City of God. It is the Way of Holiness. Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, and holiness will be the defining characteristic of God’s people in His eternal kingdom.

To be with God in Heaven is to be fully and eternally in His glorious presence with supreme satisfaction and endless contentment. “Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”

God has provided the path for us. He has supplied the atoning sacrifice for our sin. The Way of Holiness is available to everyone who commits their life to Him, receiving forgiveness and eternal life by grace through faith.

But it is only available for those who commit themselves to the Lord Jesus. “It will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. But only the redeemed will walk there, and those the LORD has rescued.”

On this earth, followers of Jesus are like the Jewish captives living exiled in Babylon, longing for home. As Peter says in his first letter, we are “God’s elect, aliens and strangers in the world… chosen by God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ.”

Paul says, “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling… so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Corinthians 5:1-5).

God’s eternal kingdom is our True Home. That is the place that the Lord Jesus has gone to prepare for us. Heaven is the only possible location for an existence of everlasting joy and contentment. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Singing. Gladness. Celebration. No pain, sorrow or danger. Chapter 35 describes the divine restoration that will occur after the divine judgment described in Chapter 34. The dry land will bloom. The weak and fearful will be strengthened. The sick and oppressed will be healed. And God’s people will travel safely to their eternal home on the highway of holiness.

How does Isaiah’s description of future events shape your mindset?

Who do you need to talk with about what you are learning?

This week’s collective prayer: Father, please place someone in my path who needs to know you truly love them and are seeking after them. Amen.

Remember: Nothing changes until something changes!