Pardoned from Death Row - January 15 Readings: Isaiah 12

We are going to "enter the year with praise." Our January readings and devotionals will all focus on the goodness and grace of God. Get a journal or notebook to write down your thoughts every day. Our passages are shorter - please don't rush through them. Take time to meditate and consider why God is worthy of your praise.

Enter 2020 with the praise of God on your lips!

Today's Praise Passage:  Isaiah 12

On that day you will say:
“I will give thanks to you, Lord,
although you were angry with me.
Your anger has turned away,
and you have comforted me.
2 Indeed, God is my salvation;
I will trust him and not be afraid,
for the Lord, the Lord himself,
is my strength and my song.
He has become my salvation.”
3 You will joyfully draw water
from the springs of salvation,
4 and on that day you will say:
“Give thanks to the Lord; proclaim his name!
Make his works known among the peoples.
Declare that his name is exalted.
5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things.
Let this be known throughout the earth.
6 Cry out and sing, citizen of Zion,
for the Holy One of Israel is among you
in his greatness.”

Through the Bible Reading: Genesis 31-32, Matthew 11:1–19, Psalm 9:11–20, Proverbs2:16-19

Some of our readers want a little more "meaty" devotional, so I am including a link to the through Through the Bible in One Year readings we did last year. 

Devotional: Pardoned from Death Row

God? Angry at me? Of course not! He loves me. I am special and wonderful. He is all love and only love.

This is the theology of modern American religion - that God is only love and would never be upset with any of us, would never judge us or condemn us. The idea of a holy God who judges sin and condemns sinners to an eternal hell is foreign to our conceptualization of him.

Perhaps that is one reason we do not give thanks as we should. Imagine one man who gets pulled over for a traffic violation and gets off with only a warning. He is likely happy that he has escaped a fine. Another man is on death row, facing death, and receives a pardon. Imagine his joy when he walks free. Both men are happy at their blessings, but it is not hard to imagine that the man who receives the death row pardon has a greater sense of gratitude than the man who got the warning for going a few miles per hour over the speed limit. Right?

That is our problem. We are born in sin and the wages of sin is death. We stand eternally condemn under the wrath of God - his abiding and eternal anger against sin which offends his holiness and cannot dwell in his presence. Because of our sin, we are separated from God and destined for an eternity of judgment too horrible to consider. We are on eternal death row.

But Jesus pardoned us by his blood, purchasing our souls from sin's death row and giving us eternal life. We've been redeemed and reprieved from a date with the Lake of fire.

Most of us, though, see ourselves as traffic offenders. No, we aren't perfect - who wants that pressure? - but we do not see the seriousness of our sin in the eyes of God. One man told me he was a 3.5 on a 4 point scale. Surely God will let him in, right?

When the Bible talks about God SAVING us it is not hyperbole. God reaches down to sinners on a toboggan ride to hell and rescues us. He prevents our horrible future of judgment in hell and gives us a future in heaven through the blood of his Son. He takes us off eternal death row, wipes the slate clean, and gives us new life. As verse 1 says, his anger has turned away and he has comforted us.

My friend, you will only be truly grateful to God when you understand your true spiritual condition. He saved you from death and hell. Praise him. Disturb the people around you today by giving glory to the God who took you off death row and prepared a place for you in glory.

Father, thank you for saving a sinner who deserved nothing but your wrath. Thank you for your pardon and your grace. I praise you because I have a destiny of glory instead of the one I earned!

Think and Pray:

Meditate on this passage and write down:

1. The character qualities of God for which you can praise him. 

2. The gracious acts of God for which you can give thanks to him. 

Take time today to consider the reality of your spiritual condition. Give thanks.
Praise the God who SAVED you from the future you earned, PARDONED you from eternal death row, and prepared a place for you in glory.