Isaiah chapter 35 is a remarkable text to turn to for the third Sunday of Advent. I am fascinated with it because it shows us the very wonder that is God. It gives us a picture of His goodness and His grace and how He comes into His creation with life and health, with meaning and fulfillment.

What a terrific word for the times in which we live. It reminds me, in a way, of Ezekiel's vision of the river that flows from the altar out through the blistering desert and into the lifeless waters of the Dead Sea (see Ezekiel 47:1-12). In his vision Ezekiel tells us, "Everything will live where the river goes" (vs. 9). Isaiah, on the other hand, seems to speak about the emotional and psychological results of the presence of God. Everything will live where God's river flows and the way they will live is in joy and gladness.

Oswald Chambers said in the December one devotional from My Utmost For His Highest that “there is only one way by which I can get right with God, and that is through the death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the underlying idea that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience."

Isn’t that a remarkable thought to think. Jesus must do it all. In Ezekiel’s vision “everything will live where the river goes.” In Isaiah’s thought, dry and barren places become places of life and vitality. In both cases it is God who does the mighty deed. We can’t create them. We can work with them but we can’t create them.

Let’s pray together:

Father, lead us to the place of grace and draw us to yourself. We need you; we do desperately need you. Apart from you we are empty and broken. In you we are made whole. In you the desert and wilderness places come alive with life and meaning and vitality. Draw us to yourself and make us to be the people you have called us to be. Amen.