The First Week in February
We Read…
When we think of God’s power, what images come to mind? Maybe that word invokes scary images for us, or we picture a bunch of CEOs in power suits, or maybe a buff bodybuilder is the first thing we think about. Usually, power in this world is connected to strength, getting one’s way, and being in charge. But in today’s verses, we see that God’s power isn’t used to destroy God’s people; it isn’t used to scare them or smash them down. Instead, God uses God’s power to create, care, and sustain. What would the world look like if we all lived this way?
Isaiah 40:21-31
21 Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
Wasn’t it announced to you
from the beginning?
Haven’t you understood
since the earth was founded?
22 God inhabits the earth’s horizon—
its inhabitants are like locusts—
stretches out the skies like a curtain
and spreads it out
like a tent for dwelling.
23 God makes dignitaries useless
and the earth’s judges into nothing.
24 Scarcely are they planted,
scarcely sown,
scarcely is their shoot
rooted in the earth
when God breathes on them,
and they dry up;
the windstorm
carries them off like straw.
25 So to whom will you compare me,
and who is my equal?
says the holy one.
Power for the weary
26 Look up at the sky and consider:
Who created these?
The one who brings out
their attendants one by one,
summoning each of them by name.
Because of God’s great strength
and mighty power, not one is missing.
27 Why do you say, Jacob,
and declare, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
my God ignores my predicament”?
28 Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the creator of the ends of the earth.
He doesn’t grow tired or weary.
His understanding
is beyond human reach,
29 giving power to the tired
and reviving the exhausted.
30 Youths will become tired and weary,
young men will certainly stumble;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength;
they will fly up on wings like eagles;
they will run and not be tired;
they will walk and not be weary.
Psalm 147:1-11
1 Praise the Lord!
Because it is good to sing praise
to our God!
Because it is a pleasure
to make beautiful praise!
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem,
gathering up Israel’s exiles.
3 God heals the brokenhearted
and bandages their wounds.
4 God counts the stars by number,
giving each one a name.
5 Our Lord is great and so strong!
God’s knowledge can’t be grasped!
6 The Lord helps the poor,
but throws the wicked down on the dirt!
7 Sing to the Lord with thanks;
sing praises to our God with a lyre!
8 God covers the skies with clouds;
God makes rain for the earth;
God makes the mountains
sprout green grass.
9 God gives food to the animals—
even to the baby ravens
when they cry out.
10 God doesn’t prize the strength of a horse;
God doesn’t treasure
the legs of a runner.
11 No. The Lord treasures the people who honor him,
the people who wait
for his faithful love.
1 Corinthians 9:16-23
16 If I preach the gospel, I have no reason to brag, since I’m obligated to do it. I’m in trouble if I don’t preach the gospel. 17 If I do this voluntarily, I get rewarded for it. But if I’m forced to do it, then I’ve been charged with a responsibility. 18 What reward do I get? That when I preach, I offer the good news free of charge. That’s why I don’t use the rights to which I’m entitled through the gospel.
19 Although I’m free from all people, I make myself a slave to all people, to recruit more of them. 20 I act like a Jew to the Jews, so I can recruit Jews. I act like I’m under the Law to those under the Law, so I can recruit those who are under the Law (though I myself am not under the Law). 21 I act like I’m outside the Law to those who are outside the Law, so I can recruit those outside the Law (though I’m not outside the law of God but rather under the law of Christ). 22 I act weak to the weak, so I can recruit the weak. I have become all things to all people, so I could save some by all possible means. 23 All the things I do are for the sake of the gospel, so I can be a partner with it.
Mark 1:29-39
29 After leaving the synagogue, Jesus, James, and John went home with Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed, sick with a fever, and they told Jesus about her at once. 31 He went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she served them.
32 That evening, at sunset, people brought to Jesus those who were sick or demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered near the door. 34 He healed many who were sick with all kinds of diseases, and he threw out many demons. But he didn’t let the demons speak, because they recognized him.
35 Early in the morning, well before sunrise, Jesus rose and went to a deserted place where he could be alone in prayer. 36 Simon and those with him tracked him down. 37 When they found him, they told him, “Everyone’s looking for you!”
38 He replied, “Let’s head in the other direction, to the nearby villages, so that I can preach there too. That’s why I’ve come.” 39 He traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and throwing out demons.
God cares for us in our times of need, sustains us, and is intimately connected to us as our Creator. We read in 1 Corinthians about becoming all things to all people for the sake of the Gospel. Paul is giving us a picture of what it looks like to become something for others, just as Jesus became human for all of us. He so desperately wanted others to know about God’s care and love that he took on the responsibility of meeting them where they were.
So, how are we called to respond to the love and care of God that we see throughout Scripture? In Mark 1, Simon Peter’s mother-in-law responds to Jesus’s work by serving him.
We Think…
What stands out to you in these verses?
Does anything confuse you or n