"The God Pause Daily Devotional" from The Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Monday, 15 August 2016 with Scripture Isaiah 58:9b-14

"The God Pause Daily Devotional" from The Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Monday, 15 August 2016 with Scripture Isaiah 58:9b-14
Isaiah 58:9 Then you will call, and Adonai will answer;
you will cry, and he will say, “Here I am.”
If you will remove the yoke from among you,
stop false accusation and slander,
10 generously offer food to the hungry
and meet the needs of the person in trouble;
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your gloom become like noon.
11 Adonai will always guide you;
he will satisfy your needs in the desert,
he will renew the strength in your limbs;
so that you will be like a watered garden,
like a spring whose water never fails.
12 You will rebuild the ancient ruins,
raise foundations from ages past,
and be called “Repairer of broken walls,
Restorer of streets to live in.”
13 “If you hold back your foot on Shabbat
from pursuing your own interests on my holy day;
if you call Shabbat a delight,
Adonai’s holy day, worth honoring;
then honor it by not doing your usual things
or pursuing your interests or speaking about them.
14 If you do, you will find delight in Adonai —
I will make you ride on the heights of the land
and feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Ya‘akov,
for the mouth of Adonai has spoken.”[Complete Jewish Bible
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I ran out of water the first time I hiked the badlands of South Dakota. The day was cool, and I thought I could get by carrying a single bottle of water. I downed the last drop at the end of the trail and then grew increasingly thirsty as I trudged back to my car. The cups full of water I gulped when I reached the place I started provided refreshing relief.
The Israelites who returned home from exile knew all about thirst. They'd lived in "parched places" of body and soul. Upon their homecoming, the prophet Isaiah promised that the Lord would quench their thirst, and make them "like a spring of water" to quench the thirst of others. This is the Lord's promise to us. The Lord satisfies our needs in parched places with gushing grace and mercy. The Lord then pours us into our neighborhoods to refresh a thirsty world. 
Refreshing God, quench our thirst with the living water only you can provide. Pour out your church into every parched place of a world thirsting for life. Amen.
Jeffrey Eisele, '16
Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church, Sioux Falls, S.D.
Isaiah 58:9 If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
10 if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.
12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.
13 If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs;
14 then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. [New Revised Standard Version]
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