Readings:
Genesis 31
Matthew 12
Psalms 9
Matthew 12:18-21 NLT
“Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen. He is my Beloved, who pleases me. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not fight or shout or raise his voice in public. He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Finally he will cause justice to be victorious. And his name will be the hope of all the world.”
This passage in Matthew speaks to the prophecy in Isaiah about the Messiah, so to only make it about ourselves would not be a perfect application. We MUST realize that this is first and foremost about Jesus Christ, Jeshua Hamaschiach, our Lord and Savior. And only when this is clearly about Him, and when we realize that He walks with us, and that the Holy Spirit lives in and through us — can we safely and humbly examine our life to see how our life is also the life of a chosen, beloved servant of the Lord.
What is it to be a servant of the Lord, to be chosen? To be beloved and pleasing to the Lord?
Be filled with the Spirit of the Lord.
Proclaim justice to the world, but not by fighting or shouting or raising our voice to be unable to ignore in public — but so gentle that we do not crush the brokenhearted or put out the flame of hope. Our lives will demonstrate that Christ is victorious and that their hopes for justice will be fulfilled.
Those who are truly servants and messengers of the One true God are not making a name for ourselves or putting ourselves on display — yet we do not hide the light we have been given either.
We do not cower or refuse to deliver this good news to the world and to the nations. He makes it so. Amen.
Harold J. Ballinger 