LifeLink Devotional

Monday, February 10, 2020

I love it when someone asks me to speak at an event. I am a verbal person. Verbose maybe. Annoying sometimes. But I love to talk. The question is, why?

With sincere repentance in my heart I must admit that for much of my life the motivation for my communication was selfish. It is still a difficult struggle. I get to tell my stories. I get to watch people’s reactions and hear their responses.  When I talk, the attention is on me, and I like that. Come on; look deep into your heart. It may be true of you too.

But why is it that when words will benefit someone else, we find it difficult to speak them? It’s amazing how we speak when we should be silent and we are silent when we should speak. Personal benefit motivates our activity more than we dare to admit. Fear of rejection and fear of retribution cause us to go silent.

Isaiah was in a tough place. The nation to which he had been called as a prophet was rejecting the word of the Lord. He had two choices – shut up and stop telling the people what God wanted and thereby stay safe, or speak up and proclaim the truth no matter what the consequences. What would motivate any of us to do the latter?

Isaiah 62:1  For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.

The answer is…LOVE! What we love the most determines our activity. Isaiah loved the people that God loved, because he loved God. For the people’s sake he could not keep silent. If it was for his own sake, he would have run away and never been heard from again. But he had determined in his heart that his love for God and for God’s Word would produce a love for people who needed God, and he could not remain silent. Regardless of the consequences, love always dictates action, and Isaiah had God’s love for people, so he acted on it.

Oh that we would do the same! We who love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength cannot remain silent when surrounded by so many people who need to see and experience the love of God.

Today, for their sake, I will not keep silent until righteousness is revealed in their lives and their salvation has been accomplished.

How about you?

Pastor John