Day 4: No longer strangers
Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely exclude me from His people.” And let no eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree” (Isaiah 56:3).
O Lord our God, You are the hope of all the nations, God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
The apostle Paul explained to the debaters and philosophers of Athens that Your plan from the beginning of time had always been to draw all people to Yourself (John 12:32):
From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us… (Acts 17:26-27).
Thank You, Father, that in a world full of divisions and exclusions, You have broken down every barrier, and every dividing wall, offering us peace, reconciliation, and access to the Father through Christ, by one Spirit (Ephesians 2:14, 18). And hundreds of years before the Lord Jesus fulfilled in human time Your promise to all nations, You had already declared,
And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to Him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be His servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant— these I will bring to My holy mountain and give them joy in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:6-7).
Lord, You are the God who offers hope and salvation to all— the God who embraces the lowly and the despised, the far away and the near (Ephesians 2:17). For in matters of both justice and mercy God does not show favoritism (Romans 2:11).
You welcome the lame, the maimed and the disabled. You welcome the rejected, the disdained and the untouchable. And You welcome those at every level of life and society who are invisible, overlooked or forgotten. The apostle Paul reminded the Corinthian believers and many of us that we were not influential or of noble birth when You called us (1 Corinthians 1:26).
And as You continue to perfect Your work in us— as we meet the ordinary and sometimes extraordinary demands of life— parenting, caregiving, supporting, working, ministering— keep us mindful that You do not measure according to the world's reckoning system. Keep us grounded and grateful, remembering that we are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household... (Ephesians 2:19).
Draw us near Your altar. Bring us to Your holy mountain and give us joy in Your house of prayer— Your holy temple for all nations— a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit (Ephesians 2:21-22).
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