Sunday, July 20, 2008
Isaiah 43:1-7
43:1 But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
peoples in exchange for your life.
Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you.
I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.” (ESV)
by Leota Stevens
If you read current events in the newspaper, listen to daytime television, or set in on a local teachers meeting you will find yourself bombarded with a repetitive catch word, “self-esteem”. People are consumed with the idea that they must find their inner self and esteem, or highly prize who they are. They worry that one’s self-esteem is fragile and must be bolstered at all times. Well, maybe our energy would be more efficiently used if we focused on the fact that the Creator of Life has already ascribed unfathomable value to the individual. To know you are “God-esteemed” reinforces how precious your life truly is and underscores his assurance that he will be with you no matter what situation you may encounter on your journey home to him.
Copyright Information
Daily Bible Meditations are taken from The Helping Hand,a Sabbath School student quarterly for youth and adults. Copyright © 2008, Seventh Day Baptist Board of Christian Education, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked "ESV" are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service .
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