Isaiah 52: 7
How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, "Your King reigns!"
This is such a beautiful scene, of the runner running over the mountains to deliver the good news to the people. The victory message that the war has been won, and there is no more place for fear. There will be dancing in the streets, businesses will re-open and offer their wares, farmers will harvest their fields, and no one will be endangered any more.
Life will go on in the joy of families reunited and prosperity regained.
Now that the King has vanquished our foes and destroyed our enemies, we are free to pursue our dreams in the knowledge that our King has redeemed us from all the stuff that holds us back, all the error and deception that have interfered with our being who we were made to be: His princes and princesses to reign with Him on His throne as kings and queens with Him.
Who wants to be that runner? Who is the King calling to proclaim His Good News? His Good News is the Gospel, that our King Himself waged the war, fought the battles, and vanquished the enemy, giving us His victory, and enabling us to enjoy all the benefits of His conquest.
Is He your King? Does He have Sovereignty over your thoughts and life? Has He carried your sins and stains and negativity far away to drown them in the deepest sea? Has He given you His freedom to do what is right, to forsake all the poor choices that have weighed you down, and turn your thinking around from being a victim to having victory?
He has already accomplished it all. He has suffered and paid our debt that would take us forever to pay, and arose with new Life to give us that Resurrection Life, in place of the debt. He became sin for each of us, so that we can become embodiments of His righteousness (II Corinthians 5:21). The Books are balanced. God put our sin on His side of the page, then put His righteousness on our side of the page.
Now God sees us as perfect, pure and void of any kind of defect or imperfection: fit to withstand His own Presence in Glory without being destroyed by it.
That's how much He loves us. That's how much value He places on each one of us, that we are worth all He has done to redeem us.
I know that I am not "perfect" in my daily life. But whenever I realize that I have "missed the mark," I confess to God, agreeing with Him how sinful my sin is, and He enables me to forsake that path, and turn around to walk on His path before me instead. That's the power He gives me, to be able to make that better choice, to do the hard thing, to be courageous in claiming victory over my weaknesses. It's simple, but it's not often easy.
God has done so much for me, He loves me more than I can imagine, and He's prepared a place for me to spend eternity with Him. How can I not proclaim this God? How can I not share with everyone who will listen how much He loves them, too?
O my Father, thank You for doing Everything! You have finished everything that needs to be done to design, fashion, execute, cleanse, redeem, finish all of Creation, all that exists. And You have given me a small role in Your plan, to run over the mountains digitally to announce and proclaim Your vanquishment of everyone and everything that would mar the perfection of Your work.
You are Perfect, and You are perfecting everything to come up to Your standard. You are the standard, my Lord. You are the measure of what is right, what is beautiful, what is good, what is lovely, what is enjoyable, what is fun.
Continue to teach me, my King, how I can cooperate with You, with how You have designed this World to work, to benefit and bring benefit to others. To prosper and bring prosperity to others. To enjoy the Life You give me, and bring joy to others in You, also. The joy of the Lord is my strength, to overpower all the enemies who come only to kill, steal, and destroy.
Thank You, Father, that I know the end of the Story, that we win! That encourages me to keep on keeping on, trusting You through all the slogs and marshes and wildernesses of this World. I know that Your strength in me will always and continually gain me the victory over all my enemies, and that You will even reward me for doing what You enable me to do!
You are Awesome! You are Amazing! You are eminently beyond anything I can even imagine! And You see me. You know me. You know my name. You know my every thought. You know my every molecule. You blow my mind!
O Father, make my "feet" beautiful, in broadcasting the seed of Your Good News. Please let some of that seed fall on the fertile soil You have prepared to receive it, and let it produce a hundred fold, for Your Kingdom!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
