Isaiah 52 has the prophet talking about salvation and what is to come. He tells the people to “shake yourself from the dust and arise….loose the bonds from your neck”. We get caught up in our sin. We settle in and fall into comfort with people around us who are on the wrong path. We need to ‘awake’ and notice where we are hanging out and with whom. And when we see it is not God’s presence we are in, but stuck in the mire of sin and the world, we need to shake off that dust and unwrap ourselves and move toward God.
God wants a relationship with us. He is our life and our source of salvation. And here is the defining truth about our walk with Him: “my people shall know my name”. Do you know God? Not as the One you run to when you are in trouble, but as the Creator of the universe? Do you know Him as the Author of life? Do you know Him as the First, the Last, and the Great I Am? Have you spent time at His feet declaring the many qualities that describe Him in scripture, and been in adoration and awe of our God?
We should be praising and glorifying Him every day – not just a few minutes here or there – but as a way of living. God is the God of our salvation. He is the Provider of all. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’”. We need to be shouting the truth of our God from the mountaintops. We need to know Him intimately and be sure that “all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God”.
But it goes further than talking about God. It is living with and for Him. Our lives should glorify Him. He should be our everything. People may be drawn to the words we speak, but they will be consumed by the life we live if we live it for Him. When we are living life as a Christ Follower the way God intends, “that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand”. We are His hands and feet. We express His glory by the way we live and walk with Him. Are you making that difference in the lives of those in your patch?
Arlin Sorensen's Thoughts on Scripture 