And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day.
Isaiah was prophecying to the nation of Israel, God's chosen ones, revealing to them His will for them. As wild Gentile olive shoots, we have graciously been grafted into, adopted into God's chosen people, therefore this prophetic word which was spoken by Isaiah is also spoken to us; we who were once far off but who have now been brought near by the blood of the Lamb.
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the term to "draw out" means to extract,remove or to extend beyond a minimun in time. I thought this was significant in relation to this particular verse. The Lord tells us to "draw out our souls" to the hungry. I understand that this would mean to have compassion for needy people, but I believe this even goes beyond that. It seems to be an extracting or removing of our soul, of our selves, and a placing of the hungry and the afflicted in a higher position than ourselves. We must let go of our souls, our selves, and we must become less and less.
Jesus was moved with compassion everywhere he went. His primary concern was always for the broken, the hurting, the hungry, the wounded and the afflicted. He wasn't merely "feeling sorry" for others as he looked upon the crowds, but He was allowing His own soul to feel their pain. He allowed His soul to be so completely drawn out that He gave His own life away for our sakes.
The beautiful promises of the Father follow our obedience. When we turn from our selfishness, our light begins to shine, the darkness is exposed and is turned to light within us. The light of Jesus, the Messiah, is manifest upon the earth, and many who see it shall believe upon His name. We sing about letting our light shine, we talk about how we are the salt and light, and in this passage, the Father is giving us a key, showing us the way we must go in order to truly shine for Him. We must walk the way of His Son, allowing our souls to be extracted and removed for the sake of the hungry, the needy, and the afflicted, whoever they may be around you or across the world.
My prayer, and may it be yours today...
I pray, O God, to be filled with compassion and that my soul may be drawn out to the hungry and the afflicted. I pray you would invade the selfish places in my heart and overwhelm me with the hurts and needs of your people. I pray that I would not think of myself first, of how something or someone is going to affect my life, but I would first think of another's life. That my first thought would not gravitate to "what about me?" but that my soul would be so drawn out until there is nothing else to give. Thank you, my Savior Yeshua, for drawing out your perfect soul for me and for all people in this world. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment