Daily Lesson for July 29, 2020

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Isaiah chapter 65 verses 17 through 25:

For I am about to create new heavens

    and a new earth;

the former things shall not be remembered

    or come to mind.

18

But be glad and rejoice forever

    in what I am creating;

for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,

    and its people as a delight.

19

I will rejoice in Jerusalem,

    and delight in my people;

no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,

    or the cry of distress.

20

No more shall there be in it

    an infant that lives but a few days,

    or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;

for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,

    and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.

21 They shall build houses and inhabit them;

    they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22 They shall not build and another inhabit;

    they shall not plant and another eat;

for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,

    and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

23 They shall not labor in vain,

    or bear children for calamity;

for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—

    and their descendants as well.

24 Before they call I will answer,

    while they are yet speaking I will hear.

25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,

    the lion shall eat straw like the ox;

    but the serpent—its food shall be dust!

They shall not hurt or destroy

    on all my holy mountain,

says the Lord.

This is the world we are working for.  It is the world we believe in.  It is the world we cannot give up on.  A new heavens -- and a new earth.

Go back and read the Prophets' words.  He gives us a vision of who it is that we were meant to be -- still can and should be.

This is a community of health and of wellness.  No infant child dies for lack.

It is a community where old persons live out their lifetimes -- not sacrificed for the sake of the young.

It is a community where people can actually afford to live in their own homes, and enjoy the fruits of their own labors.  In other words, they have equity in the community.

Children will be safe -- not born to be victims of violence.

And the wolf and the lamb shall feed together, each guarded and protected by the rule of law.

And the serpent -- the one who first sowed false accusation and enmity -- shall bite only the dust.

The Prophet's vision is still out there.  It is still possible.  It is still attainable. 

And we shall reach it, if we still believe in it -- and work for it also.

NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible this year.  Tomorrow's Lesson comes from 2 Kings chapters 20 and 21.