THE VERSE
And the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.~Isaiah 35:10 (NIV)
THE THOUGHT
Consider a breathtaking thought this morning: you are being hunted by joy. Today, as you go about your normal routine, awash in the busyness of modern life, gladness is following you. Even in the days of sorrow, when you can hardly lift your head for grief, when your heart is breaking and you don’t understand what God is doing, you can know this: joy is still hunting you. From the day of your salvation until the day you die, your whole life is a life of being pursued by joy.The consummation of this long pursuit is pictured here in Isaiah 35. After a lifetime of sorrow and sighing, the long-awaited day will finally arrive. The hunt will climax in a glorious redemption. After pursuing the ransomed of the Lord their entire lives, gladness and joy will finally overtake them. Eternal happiness will finally catch up to the believer. The race will be over, as the saints of God are finally caught by kindness and held captive by the overwhelming joy that has chased them so long.
What a day that will be! Oh, to finally be home, to finally be with the One who has been pursuing us so long! But until that day, what peace this hope brings, to know that we are being pursued every day by a gladness that will soon overtake us with everlasting joy.
THE PRAYER
God, Your promises are wonderful! Thank you for the beautiful picture You give me here of being overtaken by joy. Thank you for pursuing me every day of my life, for finding me when I wasn’t looking for You, for chasing me when I run away, and for promising to catch and hold me forever.EXTENDED READING
Isaiah 35:3-10Isaiah 51:1-11
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