Cause for Celebration
Isaiah 52:7–10
By Kasey Cooper
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion. Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has
bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
We seek joy in a variety of different places. As Christians, we know that Jesus gives true joy, but as we are still living in the flesh, our sin nature may pull us every way other than towards the Lord. We ride the highs and the lows as life throws them at us and sometimes forget where we, as children of God, find rest for our souls. If we are in Christ, the Holy Spirit reminds us that true joy can only be found in salvation and sanctification through Jesus.
Everyone loves good news. When we have good news to share, we usually get excited to share it. When we receive good news, we rejoice, but that emotion doesn’t last forever. Isaiah describes the Israelites as they worship their great God, while simultaneously describing what our reaction should be when we celebrate Christ’s birth. He has comforted us, He has redeemed us, and that is cause for celebration.
Today, receiving good news may look like placing your faith in Jesus and if that is the case, praise God! Today, maybe you feel conviction for not placing one hundred percent trust in God for your source of joy and satisfaction. That conviction is good news indeed! When the Holy Spirit convicts us, we are to run into the arms of the Father, not wallow in our guilt and avoid any repercussions. Repentance is a beautiful thing. Run to Jesus, the true and only source of eternal joy.
Father, we thank you for the joy that we have in Jesus. We pray we would live our
lives every day in celebration of this truth that we have. In the source of our joy, Jesus, we pray,