Christmas
December 26, 2016
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 63:7-9
I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord,
the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,
because of all that the Lord has done for us,
and the great favor to the house of Israel
that he has shown them according to his mercy,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
–Isaiah 63:7-9
I subscribe to a grammar checking service and am often amused at the corrections suggested for the scriptures I quote. I never insert the suggested corrections in the scriptures. I figure the NRSV team gave it their best shot. My favorite is anything written by Paul invariably receives a “too wordy” comment. I doubt he would have appreciated that. I must confess when I look up specific word meanings from Hebrew and Greek scriptures in Strong’s Concordance; I am amazed at and thankful for the skills of the translators making the transition from one language to another lucid. I possess neither the patience nor the detail orientation much less the language skills necessary to translate.
The Bible recount(s) the gracious deeds of the Lord. It is the substance and context of the scriptures that matters. It is important for we students of God to review and remember these historic acts of God. We also must not lose sight of the continuing nature of God’s working in and through us. We are called to continue the recording of the gracious deeds of the Lord through our lives. Like the grammar checker, we need to check our deeds routinely. Do they reflect the gracious nature of our Lord?
Prayer: God of Grace, we live in a world where our every action can create a reaction. We are part of houses divided on everything from faith to freedom to love. Make your plumb line* clear to us as we strive to be your gracious followers. Amen.
*See an illustration of God’s plumb line in Amos 7.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.