Day 251

Isaiah 17:1-19:25, 2 Corinthians 10:1-18, Psalm 106:16-31

One of the things that I have enjoyed during these readings have been the days where one single verse (or couple of verses) jump out from the quagmire of the rest. I didn’t get anything out of the rest of the day but these verses:

In that day people will look to their Maker
   and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
They will not look to the altars,
   the work of their hands,
and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles
   and the incense altars their fingers have made.

Some churches still have the high altar and some very holy things to go with it. For many, the church is holy ground, a consecrated place. We have said before that sometimes we get too tied up with this holiness, even when the chips are down. We have also said that the temple and the altar was the epitome of holiness for the people of Israel.

This idea of the people looking beyond that to “their Maker … to the holy one of Israel” is all about putting God in His right place. God brought himself to earth, walked amongst us in the form of Christ. We sometimes forget about the ascension and try to house God in our churches rather than acknowledge he is the God of earth AND heaven.  

A lot of the things I have said show the love that I have for the glory, power and majesty of God and this is what Isaiah is challenging the people about here. Look too your maker, look to the Holy One of your life today.