When I was about one year old my family lived in a house with floor furnaces. I can remember Daddy having to lift the heavy floor grates to light the pilots as winter approached. One morning I walked over the floor furnace. I cried because my feet were seared on the furnace grate. I stood still in fear. Momma grabbed me off the furnace grate and put butter over the burns on my feet. The blisters grew and I cried. My parents called Granny and she came over to our house. She was a godly woman and raised her children with a strong belief in God. Granny sat me on her lap and began praying scriptures quietly as she rubbed my feet. I’m not certain but I think one of them was Isaiah 43:2 “…when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned.” I stopped crying. Jesus heard her prayer and sent healing to my little feet. – excerpt paraphrased from Healed by Jesus by Jim Kerlin.
Text: Isaiah 43:1-7
Prop: a baby walker from the nursery
Summary: We are created to bring glory to God.
Every baby must learn to walk. At about 10 months of age, a baby stops crawling and begins to stand up. Look at this baby walker I brought from the nursery. You may have been placed in a walker when you were young. It keeps a baby from falling until the legs strengthen. Your parents probably cheered as you took your first steps. Today’s lesson is about a nation (a land full of people) that was created by God. It is called Israel.
The prophet Isaiah wrote that God formed the people of Israel for His glory. (Read Isaiah 43:1,7]
Isaiah spoke of how God called his people by name. He got up close and personal with his people. He protected them as a young nation when they crossed the Red Sea and the Jordan River. He sheltered them in the desert. He told them not to fear because He was with them. God was with them when they were learning to walk as a nation. He promised to bring them back into Palestine after being scattered among the nations. On May 14, 1948 the State of Israel was declared a sovereign nation.* God kept his promise.
Though this scripture is about a nation, the Bible says we are formed with a purpose. We are created to bring glory to God. “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” (1 Chronicles 16:29) We find meaning in loving the God who created us. The Lord Jesus is “the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.” It is through our Lord Jesus that we are part of the family of God.
Let us pray. Dear Lord Jesus, help me as I learn to walk with You. May everything that I do bring praise and glory to You. Amen.
©2006 by Jim Kerlin. All rights reserved.
*See Declaration of Israel at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Dec_of_Indep.html.